Excalibur
by acceptable
Summary: No one stands in the way of the bearer of Excalibur. No one except Chris. He is determined to save Wyatt. The only problem is, Wyatt is determined to turn him, and with Excalibur on his side is Chris strong enough to withstand him?
1. A Nightmarish Reality

Just a brief note:I changed my pen name from AutumnAngel-371, so just letting you know it's still me!

Well, I know Wyatt and Chris future-fic have been done to death and then back to life again but I know I still like reading them. So hopefully you will too! This is not related to my other Wyatt and Chris future fics 'Blood Ties' and it's sequal 'Reversing Morality': it's just a completely new idea that came to me. But obviously feel free to read my other fics as well. I wouldn't complain!

Wyatt is about 20, Chris 18 and Prue (Phoebe's daughter) 15 or 16ish. Although this isn't set in stone.

Reviews will be much appreciated!

Autumn-371

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**Chapter 1: A Nightmarish Reality**

_"Excalibur."_

_The harsh, controlled voice rings out through the darkness and a moment later the bright white orbs, which bring the legendary sword to my enemy, blind me. _

_When I open my eyes again the inky blackness of the cave has descended, although torn in places by the evil glinting of the sword._

_The sword._

_I hear the air swishing as it moves in deference for it. Nothing stands in the way of Excalibur or it's master. Except me._

_I feel the roughness of the ground beneath me. A lone stone hits me, carelessly kicked by the holder of Excalibur, as he makes he way through the shadows. Towards me._

_I scramble to my feet, my heart beating fast. Where is he? I strain my eyes but I can see nothing. The sword must be motionless, lest a telltale spark from it betrays its master's position._

_He could be anywhere._

_I listen, but all I can hear is the pounding of my heart. It is so loud I am sure he will hear it. _

_Stillness is all around me. He has stopped. Maybe he is listening too._

_I hold my breath._

_'Please don't let him find me.' _

_I don't know to whom I am pleading. There are no Elder's left anymore; they all felt the cold steel of Excalibur. _

_Maybe I am pleading to a higher power than the Elder's. One I am no longer sure even exists. How could anybody let this happen?_

_A soft laugh echoes ominously around the cave. The echoes seem never-ending. They fade eventually, distorted._

_I still do not know where he is._

_'Please. Let him go away.'_

_I have never felt so scared in all my life. I have never felt someone so powerful and so evil in all my life. I have never been so betrayed in my life. I have never been so alone._

_But I am not alone here._

_He is still here._

_Watching._

_Waiting._

_With Excalibur._

_I clench my fists.' I must be strong.' I tell myself, ' I must stand strong in the face of evil; no matter whom they are. No matter that my hunter is the one who knows me above all others. I must not be weak.'_

_"Face me."_

_I call out to the darkness. Will he answer?_

_Footsteps sound in front of me._

_I steel myself._

_A faint hiss is the only warning I get as the sword swishes towards me. I duck, throwing my hands up._

_Excalibur slashes my skin and I feel warm blood dripping down my arm._

_The black air is still impenetrable around me. _

_I push my uninjured hand out in front of me, mentally blasting the area._

_But the sword protects. And now it protects him._

_Excalibur reflects my power and the resulting explosion throws me backwards. I hit the wall hard and collapse on the ground._

_I raise a hand to the back of my head; it is sticky with blood._

_Malevolent laughter._

_He is laughing._

_I use the wall to pull myself to my feet I take a step forward and stop short. Shock roots me to the ground._

_He is right there._

_Right in front of me._

_With Excalibur raised high._

_The air whistles as the sword curves a wicked arc through it._

_The blade stabs through my stomach and I gasp in pain._

_Coldness._

_It is cold._

_Cold…_

_-----_

A loud bang echoed throughout Chris's room.

Chris fought for air as he sat up, still half asleep. "Cold." he gasped.

Chris looked around him. He was in his room. His cousin Prue was standing at the newly slammed open door with a confused expression on her face.

"What's cold?" she asked perkily, bounding in to sit on the end of his bed.

Chris shook his head to dispel the last traces of the nightmare. "Nothing."

Prue stared sceptically at him, "You look funny. Are you ok?"

"Thanks." retorted Chris sarcastically, then at Prue's persistent gaze, "It was just a nightmare."

"What about?"

Chris paused, reflecting. He had been in a cave, with Wyatt. Wyatt and Excalibur. "Wyatt." he admitted softly.

"Oh." Prue moved her uncomfortable gaze to stare out of the window.

Chris ran his hand over his stomach. There was no injury, no mark. "It was just a nightmare." he repeated, as much for his benefit as for Prue's.

"Auntie Sheila sent me up to tell you that if you want breakfast you have to get up now and stop being such a lazy bones." Prue told him, now rooting through a large wooden weapons chest at the base of Chris's bed.

"She did not say that." contradicted Chris, reaching forward to take an athame out of Prue's hand and place it back in the trunk.

Prue shrugged her shoulder, "Well, maybe I embellished it a little." she admitted grudgingly, "But still, if you want any breakfast it's not going to be on the table for much longer."

"Ok, I'll be down in a bit." Chris sighed in exasperation as Prue began hunting through one of his drawers, "Can you stop being so nosy?" he grumbled, "Did no-one ever tell you that curiosity killed the cat?"

Prue looked mock insulted "I'm not a cat." she returned mischievously.

In response Chris chucked a pillow at her.

"Hey!" Prue protested.

"Serves you right for being cheeky." Chris told her, grinning, "I was never that bad when I was your age."

"No, you were worse, what with all your sarcastic comments." agreed Prue, ducking as Chris threw his other pillow at her too. She giggled as it missed her. "I'll go tell Auntie Sheila you'll be down in a sec." Prue informed him, "Bye!" she called out brightly as she ran out of his room and down the stairs.

Muttering to himself about annoying younger cousins, Chris got dressed and dragged himself downstairs.

"Hey Chris"

Darryl's wife Sheila was standing in the kitchen, watching the morning news as Chris entered.

"Hi" he replied, settling himself down at the table and reaching for the milk, "Anything major up?" he asked nodding to the TV.

A sad expression appeared on Sheila's face as she nodded. "It looks like there were more attacks last night. Darryl's had to go into the office early." Her eyes were worried, as she pressed mute on the remote while the weather was read out, "I don't know how much longer he can keep covering up that these are all demon attacks." she admitted.

Chris chewed thoughtfully on hiscereal as he considered this news. The number of demon attacks had increased dramatically over the past three months; ever since, Chris felt his heart constrict at the thought, ever since the Power of Three had been broken, since his Mother and two Aunts had been killed.

Chris missed them terribly. But somehow the loss of Wyatt was even more painful.

Sometimes Chris wished that Wyatt had died in the attack that had claimed the lives of the Charmed One's. Better that than what he was now, an evil, power hungry tyrant who was uniting the underworld under Excalibur.

Sheila seemed to realise where his thoughts were going. "Prue said you had a nightmare last night. About Wyatt." she ventured.

Chris nodded, staring glumly into his bowl of cereal. "We were fighting." he whispered, "He…he stabbed me." Chris swallowed painfully, "With Excalibur."

Chris could feel Sheila's sympathetic gaze on him as he felt tears spring to his eyes.

A moment later, Prue entered the kitchen and swung herself into a chair, dropping her backpack onto another. "We going soon?" she asked Sheila.

"Yes, in a minute." Sheila assured her, "You sure you'll be okay here Chris?"

Chris nodded, managing a weak grin, "It's not like you don't take Prue to school every day." he told her, "I'll be fine. It was just a nightmare."

"Y'know." Prue began, an uncharacteristically harsh look in her eyes, "I say we go find Wyatt and give him a good kick up the arse. Maybe that would knock some sense in him."

Chris grinned for real this time. "Don't tempt me." he laughed.

"I was being serious." protested Prue.

"Come on," cut in Sheila, "We'd better go. You don't want to be late."

Sheila led Prue to the front door as Prue's voice filtered back to Chris, "It's school. Of course I want to be late."

Chris shook his head in a mixture of amusement and disbelief at his cousin's attitude. Nothing could get Prue down; she saw the silver lining in every cloud. Sometimes Chris felt that he got through the loss of his mother and aunts only by the support of his little cousin, though of course Sheila and Darryl had helped tremendously too.

But no one could help him come to terms with what had happened to Wyatt. Wyatt was a problem Chris was determined to sort out by himself. If Wyatt thought that Chris would just sit back and watch his elder brother, his mentor and his best friend turn into some kind of monster, then Wyatt was mistaken.

Chris would save him. No matter what it took.

-----

Wyatt strode through the immense cavern, a cruel smile twisting his once innocent features. Wyatt's formerly baby blue eyes now held the look of steel, of calculation and of determination. Wyatt Halliwell was a force to be reckoned with.

As he passed demons, warlocks and other creatures of darkness bowed low, almost to the ground, and Wyatt could sense their fear and respect for him.

'As well they should.' he thought grimly.

Wyatt was the twice-blessed child, the bearer of Excalibur and now he had shed those useless notions of good and evil there was nothing that could stand in his way.

Except Chris.

Chris. He was Wyatt's only problem. A problem he had to deal with but couldn't erase. Because Wyatt couldn't harm Chris; he wouldn't.

'Well,' Wyatt considered this, 'I won't _kill_ him anyway.'

Wyatt reached the centre of the cavern. The sculptured roof was almost twenty feet tall here, adorned with grotesque stone demons and lit by black candles.

A circle of demons was awaiting him, their heads bowed.

Wyatt stepped up to a gap in the circle at which point the demons began their deferential greetings.

"My liege." "My lord." "Master."

Wyatt held up a hand and immediately the demons fell so silent that only their husky breathing could be heard. When Lord Wyatt demanded silence, silence was what he got.

"Report."

Wyatt made sure his voice was commanding, harsh and brooked no argument.

A hooded demon stepped forward and bowed before his report. "The coven was wiped out. Completely." he announced, respectfully keeping his eyes lowered to the ground.

The demons in his so-called "inner circle" knew that Lord Wyatt did not appreciate flowery speeches, but preferred direct statements.

Wyatt permitted himself one curt nod as the demon stepped back. Gradually all witches that could possibly be a hindrance to him and his plans were being exterminated.

Except Chris.

'And now everything comes back to Chris again.' mused Wyatt, as more brief reports were given, 'And Prue too, I suppose.'

Silence had fallen round the circle and Wyatt realised that all reports had been given and all was satisfactory.

"Dismissed."

His command rang out through the cavern and he strode back out towards the entrance. There was no movement among the demons; they all knew they were only dismissed after their Lord had left the cavern.

Wyatt's thoughts were still on Chris as he made his way to his quarters.

Wyatt would turn him. No matter what it took.

* * *


	2. A Storm Is Coming

Lots of thanks to cherrygirl1987, Sparkling Cherries, Nathy1000000, Jenny and DrewFullerFanLife for reviewing!  
Hope you all enjoy this chapter too...

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**Chapter 2: A Storm Is Coming**

The San Franciscan police department was a hectic bustle of activity. 'It had obviously been a busy morning.' though Chris wryly as he negotiated his way around paper-covered desks and harassed looking officers.

Chris knocked lightly on Darryl's office door and pushed it open at the exasperated "Yes?"

Darryl looked up as Chris entered, his expression on annoyance at being disturbed being replaced by a more welcoming one.

"Chris. Hey, how are you?"

"I'm good." answered Chris. Noticing the many reports cluttering up Darryl's desk Chris said, "I'm guessing you're not so good?"

Darryl sighed, "It's all this…" Darryl paused, gesturing to Chris to shut the door and lowering his voice, "…demon activity. I'm trying to pass it off as gang warfare but soon someone's going to question why victims are having their throats torn out rather than the usual bullet in the heart."

"I know. Its getting crazy." agreed Chris, "I just dropped by to see whether you got anything from the scene that could lead to who did it."

"Who?" muttered Darryl darkly, "What did it, you mean. Anyway," Darryl picked up a sealed evidence bag, "This athame was left there. I can lend it to you to scry with, or whatever you do with it, but I need it back soon. I may be the boss here but even bosses have bosses."

"Kay." Chris took the evidence bag and began orbing out.

"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Darryl hissed to the swarm of blue-white orbs.

Chris reformed looking surprised, "What?"

"People saw you come in here." whispered Darryl significantly, "I don't want anyone getting suspicious."

"Oh right." muttered Chris sheepishly, "Bye then. I'll drop this back off later."

Darryl shook his head in despair as Chris left and his gaze fell back to the stack of paperwork. "I really hope Chris gets this demon problem sorted out really soon." he grumbled to himself.

-----

Wyatt turned the aged page of the Halliwell Book of Shadows and sighed in exasperation as it informed him of yet another demon.

Demons he could handle. No, what he was looking for was something more subtle. Something that could help him turn Chris, and hopefully Prue too.

But Chris was the most important. It was Chris Wyatt wanted to rule by his side. Of course if he could turn his cousin too so much the better but he wouldn't be too put out if he had to kill her.

Wyatt let out a yell of frustration and slammed the book shut.

He couldn't find anything that could help him. True, half the pages still held spells for 'good' witches. 'Useless spells.' sneered Wyatt, but the rest of the book had changed with him.

Yes, Wyatt would admit that he had changed, that he had 'turned' whatever that meant. But not to evil. To power.

Because power was what everything boiled down to in the end. When everything else had gone, power still remained.

Good and Evil were such pointless categories, created by two opposing sides to justify their actions.

Wyatt had seen past all that. Seen what it was really all about.

Power.

It was as simple as that.

There were those with power and those without it.

And Wyatt Halliwell intended to be the one with the most power.

-----

Chris was having little more luck than Wyatt. After half an hour of solid scrying, with an aching arm to add to his problems, Chris had realised that the demon who had owned this athame was no longer in San Francisco, or the surrounding area, or indeed, the world.

That left the underworld.

The underworld full of demon and warlocks who would like nothing better than to kill him.

Millions of demons with no chance of finding the right ones.

Chris wished he had the Book of Shadows. Wyatt had taken it when he had disappeared, after declaring he was evil and had been consorting with demons, or, as he put it, "searching for power."

It sounded so clichéd when Chris repeated it silently to himself. Maybe the shock was finally wearing off.

After more than two months of not knowing where Wyatt was or what he was doing, Chris was all the more worried.

What was Wyatt doing? Where was he?

Chris had tried scrying for him but had drawn a blank. He supposed that must mean Wyatt was in the underworld, with his demon followers.

But in this case no news was definitely not good news. Wyatt's silence had all the feeling of a calm beforea storm.

Wyatt was definitely up to something, And with demons at his side, that something was definitely not good.

Chris considered that Wyatt was somehow involved with the recent attacks. 'It was all too possible' Chris reluctantly realised.

But Chris had expected Wyatt to come back himself. At their last meeting Wyatt had been livid that Chris wouldn't join him and had sworn to continue trying.

But that was something Chris was adamant about.

He was good.

It was a simple as that.

There were those that were evil and those that were good.

And Christopher Halliwell intended to be good.

-----

For what seemed like the millionth time, Prue's eyes found the clock hanging on the wall of the classroom. With difficulty she restrained herself from tapping her foot in impatience. 'Two minutes?' she thought incredulously, 'Only two minutes since I last looked?'

Prue felt the urge to go and shake the clock, try to knock some sense into it.

'The lesson must be nearly finished.' she silently groaned.

English was most definitely not her favourite subject and at the present moment she could not think of anything more boring than reading, 'more like translating,' she thought darkly, Shakespeare.

Prue could feel her eyes grow heavy as she tried to concentrate once more on the small black words that filled the page in front of her. She managed a line before losing focus again. The words seemed to blur and grow, masking her vision with a growing darkness.

She tried to blink, but found her eyelids were already closed.

The blackness engulfed her.

-----

_I am running. _

_My feet scramble over tree roots and fallen leaves, while creeping branches grab at my hair. _

_I am gasping for air, tired from running, yet I know I mustn't stop. I must keep going. Excalibur must not find me._

_The forest seems never-ending, a continuous prison of leering trees. I don't know how much further I have to go. I don't know where I am. All I know is that I must keep running._

_Measured footsteps fall behind me. He's not running, yet he's gaining on me. Getting closer by the second. With Excalibur._

_I am almost overcome by fear._

_Suddenly I realise I am no longer running._

_I try to move, but my muscles won't obey me any more. They obey Excalibur. And he is telling me to stop._

"_Why?" I choke out._

_The only response I get is a malicious curving of his lips. He is mocking me. He is enjoying this._

"_Please!"_

_My eyes are round with terror as Excalibur swishes through the air in front of me._

_I wrench my gaze away from the hypnotic path of Excalibur and meet the eyes of one I thought I knew._

_There is nothing recognisable in his eyes._

_Suddenly I know without any doubts that I am going to die here._

_Die by the sharp blade of the renowned sword, Excalibur. By the hand of him._

_I try to fight but am still frozen to the spot._

_Bitter wind whistles through the trees, their leaves rustling their applause. The trees seem to gather closer, creating a circle around us._

_A circle of death._

_Excalibur plunges forward and coldness spirals out from my stomach._

_The blade slices out and I fall to my knees, gasping._

'_How could he do this…?'_

-----

"Prue?" "Prue, are you okay?"

"Huh?" Prue lifted her head dazedly, the bright lights of the classroom contrasting with the gloominess of the forest.

"Are you okay? You fainted."

Prue lifted herself up off the floor to a sitting position, meeting her friend Lily's worried stare.

"I…I'm fine."

'I fainted?' wondered Prue. It had felt so real. Maybe it had just been a dream, a nightmare. 'Or,' thought Prue grimly, 'it could have been a premonition.'

"You sure? You're still really pale."

"No, I'm okay, Lily, really." Prue assured her, getting to her feet.

The whole class was gathered around her, staring curiously. Prue shifted uncomfortably at their relentless gazes. 'Typical.' she thought grumpily, 'why is it always me who embarrasses themselves?'

"Lily, could you take Prue to the medical room, please." their teacher cut in, "Maybe you just need to rest a little." she added kindly, "It's nearly the end of the lesson, so you can go home early if you don't feel up to staying."

"No, I'm…" Prue trailed off. If it had been a premonition she should probably get home straight away and talk to Chris. And if it had just been a nightmare then maybe it was connected to Chris's. He had said his nightmare was about Wyatt and Excalibur too. 'There must be a connection.' she realised

"Yeah, I think I'll do that." she told her teacher.

-----

"Chris!"

Chris started, Prue's urgent voice shaking him from his thoughts.

"Up here." he called back, dropping the scrying crystal as footsteps quickly thudded up the stairs.

Chris rushed out to the landing and saw Prue gaining the top of the stairs, with Sheila following behind. "What's up?" he asked worriedly.

"Well, I fainted or something, I'm not sure what, and I had this, well, this dream or nightmare thing, or it might have been a premonition, or something…" Prue gabbled excitedly.

"Whoa, wait." Chris held up his hands to stop the flow of Prue's unintelligible babble. Sheila was looking just as confused. "Slow down, start again." he instructed Prue.

Prue took a deep breath and tried to clarify what had happened. "I was in school and I fainted…"

"You fainted?" Chris interrupted anxiously, "Are you okay?"

Prue gave him an annoyed look, "Of course I am." she told him, "And don't interrupt. This is important."

Chris shook his head in disbelief and gestured for her to carry on.

"Anyway," Prue continued, "while I was out I had this dream slash premonition, I'm not sure which, but I think it's really important. It was about Wyatt and he had Excalibur and then I remembered that you said you had a nightmare this morning about them so I'm thinking that they're connected somehow." Prue realised she had speeded up again and made a conscious effort to slow down again, "I was in a forest," she explained, "running. And then I wasn't running anymore and Wyatt was there, with Excalibur. And then he stabbed me and I…I knew I was going to die." she trailed off, quietly.

Chris reached down to give his cousin a hug. Behind Prue, Sheila was looking scared, although she gave Chris a brave smile.

"They sound similar." Chris agreed slowly, "But I don't think it was a premonition. Aside from the fact I had a dream like yours, you only get premonitions when you're awake. I'm sure they must mean something though."

"Something to do with Wyatt?" Sheila asked.

Chris nodded. "I think they're giving us a warning. Telling us that Wyatt's planning something and, " Chris paused, reluctant to say it, "and that we're in danger. From him."

-----


	3. The Dawn Of A New Day

Thanks to Sparkling Cherries and LilPKLoser for reviewing!**

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Chapter 3: The Dawn Of A New Day

The sword cut cleanly through the air, a whistling arc of cold metal. The flickering flames of the surrounding candles gave no reflection in its harsh grey blade yet, to an observer, the long dark shadow of the sword was more ominous. Anticipation was often much more fearsome than the actual object.

This was something Wyatt knew well. He rarely used Excalibur in a fight; the threat of it was enough to quell any thoughts a demon might have of overthrowing him.

But still, Wyatt liked to be prepared for any eventuality, so he practised, as he was doing now.

Wyatt's steel blue eyes were filled with anticipation as he expertly stabbed Excalibur forward in what would have been a killing stroke for his imaginary opponent.

He paused, resting for a moment, his mind full of triumph.

It was nearly ready to be put in motion. Soon his plan would play out and when it had finished…

Wyatt felt a cruel smirk spread across his face as he contemplated what the completion of his plans would bring about.

San Francisco would not know what had hit it.

* * *

The towering bookcases of the Magic school library held so much magic and knowledge that Chris was unsure of where to begin. He wasn't even sure what he was looking for. His books had yielded no information or possible suspects for the bout of recent demon attacks so Chris had decided to use the infinite resources of Magic school to try to help him. The only problem was that there wasn't much to go on.

Chris still had the athame found at the latest attacks but it was of a type that was so commonly used in the Underworld that it was impossible to even begin to make up a list of likely suspects.

The problem of Wyatt was still preying on Chris's mind but he decided that the attacks were more pressing and that he would focus on them, unless…

Chris couldn't dispel the persistent thought that Wyatt was somehow involved in the attacks. He wasn't sure what made him think that or why Wyatt would be involved. Allying himself with demons was one thing, but killing innocents? Chris had never hoped so fervently that he was wrong. There could be no coming back from that for Wyatt.

Chris grabbed a few books off the shelf that looked as if they could be useful and settled himself down at one of the many deserted tables to look through them.

The library was silent. It wasn't the whispering quietness punctuated by the occasional giggle or ringing phone that was the normal occurrence in libraries, but a still and almost fearful silence.

There were only a few other students in the library. The fate of Magic school was still uncertain, almost three months after his Aunt Paige's death. Everybody knew that demons were getting more and more confident since the ending of the Power of Three and the vanishing, 'or was it turning?' wondered Chris, of the Twice Blessed, and Magic school, as a place entirely full of witches, was a likely target in the near future.

Chris began flicking through the pages of the books, briefly glancing at each demon before deciding that it didn't have either the intelligence or the interest to be organising and overseeing the attacks.

As the pile of used books grew higher and higher, and Chris realised that he had worked through the night, he finally gave up his search. He had found nothing whatsoever that was any help to him.

'What could unite the demons so fiercely?' wondered Chris. Then, as a realisation struck him, he groaned at his previous blindness.

A new source.

Or at least a demon who was bringing demons under his control in order to take up the long vacated position of the source.

'It has to be.' thought Chris bitterly, 'And it's down to me to stop him. But how?"

'I need information.' he realised, 'And the only way to get that is a little trip down under.'

* * *

"My Lord. Everything is ready."

Wyatt couldn't escape the cruel pleasure that spread through him at those words. This was it. Everything he had been aiming for, he was about to get. Nothing and no one could stop him now.

"We will wait until the optimum moment to strike." he told his inner circle of demon, who were once more arrayed around him, "We must wait until our diversionary attack will create the most confusion. Then…" Wyatt's mouth twisted in a satisfied sneering smile, "We will attack. And we will conquer."

* * *

In the network of caves surrounding the great cavern, most of the demons were gradually shimmering out, leaving only the necessary guards behind. They were shimmering to predetermined meeting points all over the Underworld, where they, and many other demons and evil beings, began to prepare themselves for the fight that was to come.

Demons of every size, shape, and colour were obtaining athames and other deadly weapons from Wyatt's demonic suppliers, while other demons and warlocks were powering up practise energy or fireballs and bouncing them up and down in eager anticipation.

In his luscious quarters Wyatt was pacing around impatiently, listening to various report brought to him about the city. By keeping himself informed, Wyatt made sure he would know when the right moment to strike was. Not at rush hour when there were the most people around, because while that outcome may be desirable it was not the main focus of this attack. No. The majority of designated targets needed to be alone, yet alert enough to fight a little, hence the attack would take place in the morning.

As the time drew nearer, Wyatt allowed himself to envisage how San Francisco would be tonight.

It would belong to him.

And a new era would have begun.

* * *

Chris swore silently as a large and immensely muscled brute demon lifted his enormous head to find the source of the blue-white light that had momentarily dispelled the usually permanent shadows of the cave.

Chris froze, praying the brute demon would ignore the mysterious light or, if not, at least not call it to the attention of the numerous other demons prowling around the system of caves.

One brute demon, Chris could handle, a dozen of them would be a lot trickier.

Chris backed away deeper into the shadows as the brute demon, thankfully alone, approached, an almost comical expression of concentration and thoughtfulness appearing in its normally blank eyes.

Brute demons were known for their immense strength rather than their intellect and Chris grinned triumphantly as the brute demon lost interest and returned to his position guarding one of the entrances to the cave.

Careful not to make the slightest noise, Chris slipped across the cave and cautiously exited through the other archway.

He found himself in a wide curving passageway, lit by candles, which were casting their flickering light onto the gruesome images carved into the walls.

Chris suppressed a shudder as he cast a curious glance at the engraved pictures nearest to him. They were crude carvings but nevertheless managed to convey the desired pain and torment being inflicted on the stone witches.

'I must be getting close.' realised Chris, thankfully turning his attention away from the images. The mere fact that these caves and their interlocking passages had been guarded meant that this was where some sort of powerful leader was to be found. 'Hopefully the one I'm looking for.' Chris thought.

Chris tightened his grasp around his athame as he approached a huge arched window set into the inside curve of the passage. Cautiously hitching an eye around the thick stone ledge Chris peered out onto a vast cavern.

It was devoid of life at the moment apart from the ceremonially dressed demonic guards stationed at each entrance, but Chris could tell that this was a meeting place.

Chris considered his options; so far he had not been spotted but if he waited to see if anything happened in the cavern a demon might chance upon him and sound the alarm that someone knew where they were located. If that happened Chris knew that the demons would abandon this place and descend upon another that would no doubt be much better hidden and guarded. This would make them almost impossible to find again.

On the other hand if he stayed then he could find out important information that could help immensely in defeating this new evil.

Before Chris could decide, the decision was made for him as about a dozen or so demons strode through the guarded entrances and formed a circle in the centre of the cavern. They left a gap around a slightly raised area of stone as if they were expecting someone else, 'Probably the leader.' Chris hazarded a guess.

Chris lent slightly out to get a better view of the proceedings. He knew that if a demon should cast a casual glance around what appeared to be the viewing gallery that he would be spotted immediately. But Chris decided the risk was worth it to get a clear idea of what was going on.

Nothing was happening at the moment. They appeared to be silently waiting for their leader to approach.

Chris waited with them, almost holding his breath in anticipation. Who would this leader be? How powerful a demon? With what powers?

A movement at an entrance apparently adorned with gold carvings caught Chris's attention. The leader was entering.

A tall, human looking figure approached the circle wreathed in shadows. Chris was unable to make out his face but a glinting sword at his waist looked vaguely familiar to Chris.

The leader stepped up to fill in the circle and for the first time Chris was able to see clearly the face of the new source.

It was Wyatt.

Chris felt his mouth drop open and a soundless gasp escaped. No. This couldn't be.

No!

Chris felt almost dizzy as he reeled from the shock.

His own brother was the new source?

His own brother was the one organising the attacks that had killed so many innocents.

How could this be?

'There must be some mistake.' Chris thought wildly even as his senses told him that there was no mistake. That was his brother surrounded by upper level demons and demanding to know if his troops were in place.

'Troops?' Chris mouthed silently.

"Everyone is in position, My Lord." An unctuous looking demon informed Wyatt.

With an unrecognisable cold look in his eyes Wyatt gave the orders that would change the history of San Francisco forever. "Very well. We attack NOW!"


	4. Beneath A Red Sky

I am so so so sorry for the massively long wait for this chapter but things have been a bit hectic with the college term starting again...I promise I won't take this long again!  
Thank u to Sparkling Cherries, tima, Mellaithwen and Nathy1000000 for reviewing!**

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Chapter 4: Beneath A Red Sky

Chris grasped at the thick stone arch, his fingers hooking into the carved ledges. His head was spinning.

Wyatt was the new source.

Wyatt?

"We attack NOW!"

The words were still echoing across the cavernous chamber as if a thousand voices were shouting them.

The air was rippling around Wyatt as the circle of demons shimmered out to relay their orders.

'This can't be happening.' The words repeated themselves into meaninglessness over and over in Chris's head. He felt detached from reality as the clamour of his almost unintelligible pleading overcame him.

Chris felt his knees give way as he sank to the floor, the unforgiving cold seeping through his trousers.

He felt a searing pain at Wyatt's betrayal. Wyatt was evil. It hadn't been long since he had lost his mother and aunts and now he had lost Wyatt too.

Wyatt's cold voice echoed throughout Chris's brain as his final words came into focus. Wyatt had said, "We attack now."

Attack?

As the information about the impending attack filtered through into Chris's awareness a crystal clear voice cut through his incoherent thoughts.

"Chris!"

-----

Wyatt stood alone as the last of the demons shimmered out. Or…was he alone?

A faint presence registered on the edge of Wyatt's awareness, almost completely suppressed by his concentration on his plan.

By nightfall all of San Francisco would bow down to him. And there would be nobody to stop him.

His thoughts on victory, Wyatt strode out of the cavern, the whispered presence completely forgotten.

-----

Aaron was hurriedly adjusting his tie in the hall mirror, while casting worried glances at the clock. He had to be at work early today and was already running late.

His eyes found the minute hand edging dangerously close to the half past mark on the clock and he allowed himself one last glance at his tie, his hand already reaching for his briefcase.

What he saw in the mirror made him freeze.

His briefcase tumbled to the floor from numb fingers.

There was a demon in his hallway.

Aaron spun around, his mouth moving in silent prayer.

He had never seen a demon before. Despite being a witch, Aaron chose to ignore his witch heritage and live fully in the non-magical world.

An evil-sounding gurgling laugh spilt from the demon's lips as his face lit up in anticipation.

This would be an easy kill.

But it had to be a slow kill. They were his orders.

The demon approached slowly, powering up a reasonably low powered energy ball. A taunting grin spread across its face, revelling in his victim's terror.

Aaron broke free from his paralysis and attempted to make a dash to the door.

The demon growled in annoyance and let the energy ball fly.

A burning force hit Aaron's back, throwing him through the air to crash into the bookcase by the door.

The bookcase splintered, shards of wood penetrating his skin.

Blinding pain dulled his vision and he could feel blood dribbling down his mouth. He tried to take in a breath but could only hear a bubbling sound and taste the bitter tang of blood.

A bright white light surrounded his eyes. 'Am I dying?' he wondered.

The orbs reformed into a tall Whitelighter, her violet eyes filled with compassion. "It's okay." she whispered to Aaron, her hands reaching out to heal.

"Ha ha ha…" the demon's strange gurgling laugh sounded again, causing the Whitelighter to look up.

A swarm of black orbs were coalescing.

Her eyes opened wide in shock as a black arrow shot forward out of the newly formed crossbow and lodged itself in her heart.

Tendrils of cold quickly spread across her chest and incapacitated her limbs. She collapsed on the floor next to her dying charge as the demon and darklighter exchanged satisfied nods.

"One more down." the Whitelighter heard the silky tones of the darklighter through the black haze that was filling her mind.

Silence descended on the house as demon and darklighter left to attack their next targets.

-----

"Chris!"

Prue stood with her hands on her hips, waiting impatiently for the shining orbs that would announce the arrival of her cousin.

Sheila was seated on the sofa, her hands over her mouth in horror and her eyes glued to the morning news.

The news was terrifying.

The sombre newsreader was informing the residents of San Francisco that almost one hundred people had been reported as being murdered this morning and more reports were coming in by the minute.

But that wasn't the worst of it.

The murders had been committed by demons.

Darryl had been called into his office early in the morning and had been relaying as much information as he could to them. So far although the murders were both gruesome and unexplainable, no-one had suggested that non-humans had committed them. According to Darryl the leading theory was a terrorist attack, although the evidence for that was understandably sketchy.

"Chris! For God's sake where are you? Chris!"

Sheila looked up from the TV, her face worried, "You don't think he's…" she trailed off, unsure of how to put it, "You know…involved…" she tried again.

'Has he been attacked?' The thought swam round Prue's head but she shook her head determinedly. "Chris!"

Nothing.

"Maybe he's in the underworld?" Sheila suggested, grasping onto something that made sense.

Prue shook her head, "He can hear me call from there." she explained, "Both him and Wyatt, I don't know why, maybe something to do with them being only half whitelighter."

Prue let out a snort of exasperation. "Chris!" she yelled at the top of her voice.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then a few bright orbs floated into the room, followed by the rest of the blue-white lights.

The room was lit up briefly as Chris orbed in but Prue and Sheila's relieved expressions were quickly replaced by worry at Chris dishevelled appearance.

"What happened?"

-----

The Overworld was a mass of confused activity; Elders milling aimlessly around with no sense of purpose; whitelighters confused as to whether to answer their charges desperate calls.

Leo stood in the main chamber, all the noise falling deaf on his ears. He could only hear one voice repeated over and over in his head. Wyatt's.

"You don't control me anymore."

Leo could still see his eldest son's gentle eyes contorted with evil, his face drawn back in a snarl, as he uttered those words.

"It's all about the power. Good and evil don't exist."

'Where did I go so wrong?' Leo thought miserably, 'How could this have happened?'

His senses dimly registered the death of another whitelighter.

'Why is he doing this?'

Then a harder thought steeled Leo.

'I am an Elder.'

'I once said I was a father first but in actuality I was always an Elder first.'

'Now is the time to act like an Elder.'

'I need to stop this bloodshed.'

Determined now, Leo strode out of the chamber and began issuing instructions for all whitelighters to remain in the Overworld.

"We'll be condemning our charges to death!" one whitelighter exclaimed, outraged at the order.

"And how many have you saved so far?" retorted Leo harshly, "Every whitelighter who has gone to help a charge has been killed alongside them. The witches are dying anyway. We need to protect ourselves now so that we can continue to serve the greater good. Sacrifices must be made."

Leo watched as his orders were carried out. 'Our losses have been too many.' he thought saddened; 'This has wounded us deeply.'

-----

Prue sank down into a chair. "No." she whispered.

Chris nodded, his face harsh yet sad. "I saw him. Wyatt. Ordering the attack."

"He did this? He created this?"

Prue felt tears spring to her eyes. "I know that he'd left us. That he'd changed. But…how could he do this? How could he have changed so much?"

"He was so different." Chris agreed, "Cold, harsh, domineering."

"What can we do?" Sheila asked quietly.

Chris shrugged. "We can't stop it." he admitted painfully, "There are too many of them. The whole of the underworld is fighting in one way or another."

"Why?" Prue eyes met Chris's, "Why?"

Chris could only shake his head, "I don't know."

-----

"My Lord, whitelighters are no longer coming."

Wyatt felt his jaw tense at the report. He had expected this but not so soon. He needed to destroy enough whitelighters so that the Elders would be unable to thwart him. So that their numbers would be so few they would have to retreat and regroup, by which time Wyatt's grasp on San Francisco would be so tight that to destroy that would be to destroy the city.

Wyatt clenched his fists.

'I know who did this.'

Who else could it be? Wyatt narrowed his eyes and a tentative beginning of a solution began to form in his mind. There was only one way this could be resolved.

Wyatt opened his hands and spread them in front of him. They had been stained with so much blood that one more death would make no noticeable difference, but…

To kill his own blood.

That was different.

Leo had never been much of a dad, especially to Chris, but Leo was his father.

'I said I would let nothing stand in my way.' thought Wyatt grimly, 'so it's time to do what I have to.'

'I will not let him stand in my way.'


	5. Severed Blood

Thank you to Sparkling Cherries, Mellaithwen, JadeAlmasy and Nathy1000000 for reviewing!

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**Chapter 5: Severed Blood**

"All whitelighters have been grounded, but our charges are still being killed!" The Elder's anxious eyes held a glimmer of panic, "Something has to e done!"

'Something has to be done.' Leo repeated the words in his head, 'Not, we have to do something, but, something has to be done. We Elder's never change.'

"Maybe I should talk to him." Leo mused, the fear of such a meeting cutting into him. Wyatt had been lost to them a long time ago. Leo knew there was nothing Wyatt would not do anymore.

"He would kill you immediately!" protested the Elder, "Or, if not, capture you and gain important information. No, we must stay up here and stay safe. That way we can guide and protect as best we can."

"It feels like we're just leaving them to die." whispered Leo, pain coursing through him at the death of another witch.

"Leo, focus!" another Elder approached them, "You must block out their deaths. There is nothing we can do, except survive and hope we can right this wrong."

"I know, you're right." agreed Leo, "I just hope they can forgive us."

A harsh, cold sneer cut through the Elders conversation, "That's the least of your problems."

--------------

"Wyatt?" Darryl's voice sounded incredulous even over the buzzing static of the phone, "Wait, Wyatt is responsible for all this, all the deaths?"

"Yes, Chris just found it out," Sheila lowered her voice and glanced back at Chris, who was sitting rigidly on the sofa, his eyes fixated on the wall in front of him, "He's taking it pretty badly."

"Right, Ok…" Darryl said slowly, taking it all in, "Is there anything I can do?"

"Just keep on doing what you're doing, honey." replied Sheila, "I was just bringing you up to speed and you're needed at the station."

"Not a lot I can do though," sighed Darryl, "It's impossible to prevent the murders because we don't know where the next one will take place. We're catching nobody, although that's not surprising considering that they're demons, and questions are being asked. Very shrewd questions. If you ask me, someone, somewhere, has a very perceptive insight into this."

"You think Wyatt has someone in the police force?" gasped Sheila.

"I don't know what to think, but it's possible." answered Darryl grimly. "It sounds like someone high up is either talking too much or is trying to expose magic and witchcraft. And I know which I would bet on."

"Well, I'll warn Chris about this. See what he can find out." said Sheila.

Darryl nodded tiredly, a useless gesture at the other end of the phone, "How's Prue?" he asked.

Sheila looked toward the kitchen where Prue was making tea for them all, "Trying to cope." she replied.

"Okay, I'd better go now. Take care, all of you."

"We'll try." Sheila promised. "Bye."

--------------

The officer banged on the door, her knocks getting more and more frantic at the screams from inside.

"Stand back." her partner warned, aiming a sharp kick to the locked door.

The door crashed open, splintering around the lock. Both officers drew their guns and approached the source of the screaming hurriedly but stealthily.

They paused outside the living room door, positioning themselves either side of the door.

"Okay, on my count." one of the officer's whispered, his voice sounding hoarse, "One, two, three…"

They burst through the door, guns levelled, and froze in shock as the brute demon unleashed an energy ball at the terrified witch cowering behind a chair.

The witch gave a shriek of pain as she burned into a few ashes, floating down to the carpet.

The first officer squeezed his gun twice rapidly. Both bullets hit their mark, the brute demons chest, but instead of collapsing on the floor, the demon growled and advanced on the now petrified officer.

His partner advanced on the demon from behind. "Freeze!" she shouted shrilly.

The demons slowly turned round, contempt clearly visible on his face. He regarded the officer for a moment before spinning round and grabbing the first officer by the shirt.

The officer felt his legs leave the ground and his throat constricted as the demon lifted him up, his shirt tearing. The demon let out a roar and threw the officer hard against the wall. He smashed into the wall and collapsed in a gasping heap on the floor.

His partner fired a shot at the demon as he turned round to attend to her. Her face was a mask of fear as he advanced, a taunting grin on his face. He powered up another energy ball as she fired another shot, the echoes deafening in the small space.

The first officer managed to pull himself to his feet at the energy ball was let fly. His partner's dying screams ripped though his brain and he stumbled towards the exit.

The hallway seemed never-ending as he tried to run, grabbing onto the wall for support. He could hear footsteps behind as he reached the door. His numb fingers fumbled to pull the splintered door open as the demon snarled in anger, seeing his prey about to escape.

The officer burst out of the house and made his weaving way down to the car sitting outside the gate. The demon stood framed in the doorway, obviously unwilling to go outside.

The car engine started and the officer shot away, one thought in his mind; to get to his superior and tell him everything. He only hoped that Morris would believe him.

--------------

The clinking of the cup roused Chris from his dismal thoughts.

"Here." Prue gestured to the cup of tea in front of him.

Chris nodded his thanks and took a sip, the tea burning his dry throat.

Prue perched on the edge of the sofa, "What do we do?" she asked.

Chris shrugged listlessly.

"Oi!"

Chris jumped. Prue was looking annoyed. "What?" he protested.

"Snap out of it." Prue instructed him firmly, "We have to do something. Okay, Wyatt is behind this, but that doesn't mean that we should just sit here looking miserable. We have to stop him."

"I don't know if we can." whispered Chris, staring into his tea.

"Well we have to try." snapped Prue, "Or at least I am. Are you with me?"

Chris lifted his gaze and met Prue's fiery eyes. He sighed. "Of course I'm with you, it's just…" he raked his hands through his hair, "it's just that this is Wyatt. It's not some demon who we've never met and never cared about."

Prue gave him a sympathetic look, "I know, he's my family too, but we have to stop these killings. I was thinking, what do you reckon about a binding spell or potion?"

Chris brightened at the thought, "Yeah, that might work. It wouldn't hurt him and it would stop him so we can try to talk to him, reason with him."

Prue paused, "Sure." she agreed finally.

"What?"

Prue sighed, "I don't want to hurt Wyatt, I mean, even if we could, I still wouldn't want to, but…well, he's changed Chris. We both know it. I just don't know if he'll turn back."

"He will." Chris stated determinedly, "Even if I have to kill all the demons in the underworld I will save him."

"I know you will." said Prue, "I only hope he's willing to be saved."

"I'll make him see that there's still good and evil in this world," Chris insisted, "whether he want to see it or not."

--------------

"If I were you," continued Wyatt conversationally; "I'd be more worried about my safety than the forgiveness of a few paltry witches."

"Wyatt." hissed an Elder.

"Indeed. " Wyatt turned to face Leo, "No welcoming words from a long absent father?"

"How could you have done this?" demanded Leo, "How could you disregard everything we've done for you, everything you've taught you?"

Wyatt seemed amused. "I'm quite old enough to think for myself, thank you." he replied, "And I don't quite see what you told me to anymore."

"How do you mean?" asked another Elder harshly.

Wyatt snorted in disbelief, "You've even tricked yourselves into believing it haven't you?" he sneered derisively, "believing all your lectures about good and evil. When you get to the top of anything there's always a power struggle, and you're no different. You just refuse to see it."

"Blasphemy." snarled the Elder.

"You consider yourselves gods now?" retorted Wyatt, "You seek to rule, just like me. Only I have the most power so therefore I will win, and you all will serve me or die."

"If you're the most powerful why are you here now?" asked Leo quietly, "If you're winning why aren't you overseeing your attack? All I hear are arrogant words. If we weren't important you wouldn't be here now."

Wyatt glared at Leo, an ugly expression on his face, "How many attacks have you managed to stop." he snarled, "How many Whitelighters have you lost?" he pointed an accusatory finger at Leo, "You dare accuse me of arrogance! You, who sit her, dictating who should live and who should die? Trying to rule over everything. You disgust me. Even more so the fact that you're my father."

Leo drew himself up "We serve the greater good." he informed Wyatt, "Just as you serve the greater evil."

Wyatt laughed, "I serve no one." he boasted, "I am the wielder of Excalibur, the Twice-Blessed. The whole of magic bows down before me. And my legacy will assure my complete ruling."

Leo closed his eyes and raised his face to the light above, "How can this monster be my child?" he whispered.

"I think I can relieve you of your pain." Wyatt's voice was mocking.

Leo opened his eyes and found himself staring into the compelling blue of an energy ball.


	6. Problematic Delay

Thank you tima, JadeAlmasy, Nikki14u, Nathy1000000, Sparkling Cherries and Whisper17 for reviewing!

Hope y'all like the next chapter...

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Chapter 6: Problematic Delay**

A cloud of greenish-grey smoke issued from the heavy pot with the accompanying noise of a small explosion.

"Oops." muttered Prue, waving a hand in front of her to dissipate the smoky cloud.

"Having problems?" enquired Chris, glancing up from the spell books surrounding him.

"Stupid potion." she grumbled, now glaring at the murky liquid. She gave the potion a brisk stir then lifted the stirrer out of the potion, watching in annoyance as the liquid, with an oil-like texture, slowly pooled in a droplet before slipping back into the pot and disappearing under the surface.

Chris came over and stared at the potion for a moment. "It's not supposed to be like that, is it?" he asked.

"No Chris," ground out Prue sounding exasperated, "It's not supposed to be like that. Hence the loud bang and cloud of smoke and me standing here looking annoyed, having to answer stupid questions about whether the potion is supposed to look like it does!"

"Oh." mouthed Chris, quietly edging back towards his books. Being the focus of Prue's anger was never a fun experience.

Prue dropped the stirrer back into the pot with a dulled clang and sighed. "This is not working." she stated.

"Doesn't look like it." agreed Chris, cautiously, "What's the problem?"

"I don't know!" exclaimed Prue, "All of the potions keep blowing up in my face for no apparent reason! Maybe we should go with the binding spell idea. How's that going?"

"Umm, well," Chris hesitated, "Kinda got a little bit of writers block at the moment."

"Right."

"That's what the books are for," explained Chris, "inspiration."

"Is it working?" Prue asked carefully.

Chris sighed and leant back in his chair, "Nope."

"Didn't think so."

There was a pause while Chris stared broodingly into the distance, various ideas coming to him. "Y'know," he began eventually, "Even if we managed to make a potion or spell, it wouldn't necessarily work."

"Why not?" asked Prue, "I thought we decided it was the _only_ thing that would work. You agreed with me."

"Yes, yes, I know I did," cut in Chris hurriedly, "That wasn't what I meant. I mean, Wyatt is powerful, right? Really powerful."

"Yeah, really, really powerful." muttered Prue glumly.

"So what did our mums do when they were faced with a powerful opponent?"

Prue grinned, beginning to see the light, "They used a spell or potion from our Book of Shadows." she answered, "But, slight problem here, Wyatt has it. How are we supposed to use a book we haven't got?"

"Easy." replied Chris, a determined look on his face, "We get it back."

---------------

"Hey, hey! Slow down, officer!" instructed Darryl, above the incoherent rush of word from the desperate officer.

"But, please, you have to listen…"

"Hey!" Darryl shouted again, slamming a fist down in the table.

The officer stuttered into shocked silence, staring at Darryl.

"Sorry, bad day." muttered Darryl. He waved a hand at the officer, "Ok, lets try that again, from the beginning, and much more slowly. First things first, what's your name?"

"Officer Smith." he replied, keeping himself from blurting out what he had to say with difficulty.

"Ok, Smith, what is it?"

---------------

'How could things have gone so wrong?' thought Leo sadly, 'I can still see him, innocent and laughing. Just a baby. But he's not that person anymore.'

Time seemed to slow down for Leo.

Wyatt face was frozen. His mouth twisted and mocking, his eyes full of malevolence. The air around him seemed to be heavier, darker.

He was unnaturally out of place in the gentle surroundings of the Overworld.

His hand was drawn back, the cold blue of the energy ball contrasting violently with the pale yellow lights floating above their heads.

Leo bowed his head and waited.

---------------

Darryl sat back slowly, horrified at what he had just heard. "Have you told anyone else this?"

"No, no." Smith shook his head, "I came straight to you. They wouldn't have believed me anyway. Do _you_ believe me?"

Darryl gazed at the officer thoughtfully. "I've seen enough to know to keep an open mind." he said carefully.

"I hoped you would. I've heard…well…rumours." muttered Smith.

"Rumours?" enquired Darryl.

"About, you know, your reputation for being given, well…freaky investigations."

"Hmph. Well, I need to think about what you've just told me." Darryl told Smith, "Stay in the station and don't tell anyone what happened. You hear me? Don't tell a soul, or you'll be out so fast you won't know what hit you."

"Yes sir."

"Good."

---------------

"We get it back." repeated Prue incredulously, "Just like that."

"Yep. We find it and take back what's ours." answered Chris, steadily.

"Oh, okay, so the hundred or so demons who will be guarding it are what? Just minor problems?" Prue said sarcastically.

"No." replied Chris calmly, "Would you trust demons with the book?"

"Well, no, of course not, but Wyatt…"

"Wyatt knows how powerful the book is." interrupted Chris, "He wouldn't trust any demon to guard it. Demons have always been trying to get the book and they probably always will. Wyatt's not stupid; he knows that any demon who stole the book could use it to overthrow him."

"Ok, so maybe he won't have demons guarding it, but it will still be protected." reasoned Prue.

"Mmm." agreed Chris pensively.

"'Mmm', what?" prompted Prue impatiently.

"I don't really see how he can protect it from us. Not the book itself. I mean, we have as much right to it as him. It belongs to us to. The book won't defend itself against us."

Prue inclined her head slightly, thinking, "This could work!" she announced excitedly, "Brilliant idea Chris!"

"The problem will be getting into wherever it is hidden." warned Chris.

"Well, as you pointed out, the only person he would trust to protect it is himself. So, it'll probably be where he is staying, somewhere around where you saw the meeting chamber." guessed Prue.

"Yep, I would think so. So now all we need to do is work out how to get in there without getting caught. I was lucky last time, everyone was preparing for the attack" stated Chris, carefully keeping his face blank.

"Oh. Ah. That is quite a big problem."

"Exactly."

---------------

Wyatt stared at his hands as if they were a stranger's.

"It had to be done." he whispered, "I had to stop him."

Wyatt visibly steeled himself.

"And I did." he stated harshly.

Wyatt shook his head, turning his mind from what he had just done.

He had called off the attacks now. They had hit the city hard enough for one day. Maybe it hadn't worked out exactly as planned but within a few days if that, everything would be under control again. And half of their targets had already been wiped out.

He just had to wait a little bit longer.

Then San Francisco would be his.


	7. The Second Surge

I am soooo sorry. I havent updated for absolutely ages n ages n ages. I'm not quite sure what happened there but i've just been really busy lately.  
Anyway, lots of thanks to JadeAlmasy, Nathy1000000, Sparkling Cherries, tima and Kitty-Witty-Kate for reviewing!  
And yes this is set in the original future.

Hope y'all enjoy the next chapter!

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**Chapter 7: The Second Surge**

"What the hell happened down there Morris?" the voice angrily demanded.

"I don't know, sir." Darryl replied down the phone, as civilly as he could, "Terrorist attack, gang warfare, we just can't tell. All that we know is that a lot of people were killed yesterday, brutally."

"The thing is, a fact that almost disturbs me as much as the murders, is talk that the perpetrators were, how shall I put this…? Not human."

"I've heard the rumours sir." said Darryl carefully, "And we are looking into them."

"Hmmm. Discreetly I hope. The media is having a field day with this already, let not fuel their appetite anymore shall we?"

"Yes sir." Darryl agreed woodenly.

"Good. I shall expect reports when anything new comes up. Immediate reports."

"Yes sir." replied Darryl again.

Darryl dropped his head into his hands for a brief moment, his eyes closing in tiredness. It was all getting out of hand. Magic and demons were on the verge on being exposed and he had no idea what to do.

Actually that wasn't quite true, Darryl mused, he always used to call on the sisters when something…strange, came to his attention. Hopefully Chris would know what to do.

---------------

"Lord Wyatt?"

The demon answered the summons with his head slightly bowed.

"Ah, Dracnis, come in." instructed Wyatt, raising his head from the parchments covering the smooth marble desk in front of him.

"How may I serve, my Lord?" enquired Dracnis in his customary oily tone.

"I have a job for you." Wyatt told him, suppressing a shudder at the demons grotesque, bulbous eyes that scanned the room, his watery gaze looking everywhere but at Wyatt.

"A job?" Dracnis repeated, his flickering tongue slithering over his lips appreciatively.

"Yes." Wyatt fixed his gaze on Dracnis for a moment. The demon was about as repulsive as they got and Wyatt could never tell if he was being disrespectful or not. Not that that mattered. With any luck Dracnis would be vanquished during the takeover, saving Wyatt the problem of disposing of the demon should he get above his station.

"I want you to take your troops and position yourselves so that you are ready for instant transportation to the city hall at my word." commanded Wyatt.

"Of course, my Lord." Dracnis' eyes focused sharply for a moment before resuming their constant darting, "May I enquire as to the purpose of this order?"

Wyatt clenched his teeth to stop himself from cursing the impertinent demon. "Your orders for now are to do as I say without questioning." Wyatt ordered harshly, "Further instructions, should I wish to disclose them to you, will be relayed when necessary."

"As my Lord wishes." replied Dracnis, dipping his head slightly, though Wyatt thought he could detect traces of amusement in Dracnis' face.

"Leave." barked Wyatt, trying not to display the revulsion he felt. He wanted to get rid of Dracnis as soon as possible; he didn't trust the demon, although he had been recommended as a good fighter and a witch hater.

Dracnis nodded before exiting the room, a guard from outside closing the door behind the demon.

Wyatt clenched then relaxed his fists, trying to dispel his anger. 'Soon.' he consoled himself, 'Soon, nobody will dare disrespect me.'

--------------

Chris eyed the murky potion apprehensively. "Are you sure this will work?" he asked, "I mean…it looks a little…"

"Yes?" Prue placed her hands on her hips, indignant, "It looks a little what?"

"It looks quite disgusting, to be frank." Chris wrinkled his nose, as the fumes wafted towards him.

"Well if you want to become invisible then I'm afraid you'll just have to put up with it." retorted Prue unsympathetically, "Unless you can come up with a better idea to find the book."

"Uh." Chris began, before hearing the phone ring from downstairs, "Let me just get that." he finished, hurriedly escaping from the attic.

"Hello?" he asked into the mouthpiece.

"Chris? It's Darryl. We have a problem."

Chris groaned, "Got quite enough to deal with here, thanks." he told Darryl.

"Well this one is big. And I mean huge." replied Darryl grimly.

"Go on." Chris sighed.

"I had a report from one of my officers. He attended an incident with his partner where neighbours reported hearing sounds of a fight. Inside he found a demon attacking a young woman. Both the woman and his partner were killed."

"That's terrible." Chris said, "But this has been happening all over the city, what…?

"It's not so much the actual incident, although that's bad enough," cut in Darryl, "It's that one of my officers now knows about magic and demons. And so will everyone else who witnessed an attack yesterday. And everyone who they told. And…"

"Ok, ok." Chris stopped Darryl, "I can see where you're going with this. Magic will be exposed. But I don't get it. Why aren't the cleaners erasing their memories?" he thought aloud.

"The cleaners? What now?" sighed Darryl.

"Oh, never mind." apologised Chris, "So how…"

A loud crashing sound accompanied by a chorus of screams and shouts could be heard over the line.

"What the…?" exclaimed Darryl.

"Darryl?" Chris listened with growing horror as the screams got louder and even through the phone, Chris could hear the fear in them.

"Darryl!" Chris almost shouted into the phone.

There was no answer.

Prue appeared at the top of the stairs, "Chris? What is it? What's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

"I don't…" Chris stopped short as the noise from the police station was cut off by the dial tone. "Darryl's in trouble." he told Prue grimly, replacing the phone in its cradle.

Chris ran up the stairs and grabbed Prue's hand. "Let's go."

---------------

"The second stage has begun." stated Wyatt, his cold eyes travelling the circle of demons standing in front of him. "You all know what to do. Orders have been passed down. There is nothing stopping us this time. This time we will attack and conquer. Fully."

"Forgive me, my Lord." A demon spoke up nervously, "But the Elders…"

Wyatt let out a derisive snort. "The Elders?" he mocked, "The Elders have been weakened by our earlier attack. They are confused and leaderless. They cannot stop us. But do not for a moment think that we are leaving them be. Their deaths will come. Once we have secured our place in San Francisco then their time will be up." Wyatt lifted his head to the rocky ceiling, "Let them try to stop us!" he called challengingly, "My plan has been too long in the making for their paltry defences to stop me. Let them try. And let them see how futile their efforts are!"

"Hear, hear." the words echoed throughout the circle, issuing from the evil grins twisting the faces of the demons.

Wyatt lowered his gaze to encompass the circle before him. There was a wild light in his eyes. "So go." he hissed, "And bring me San Francisco."


	8. An Unnatural Disaster

Hope everyone had a gorgeous xmas and is looking forward to an equally gorgeous new year!  
Also hope you like this chapter and can forgive me for taking ages to update even thoughI promised to update quicker last time!  
Please review! I can't remember if I replied to the reviews from the last chapter, tell me if I didn't and then I'll do that asap. Thank you to evryone who has reviewed.

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Chapter 8: An Unnatural Disaster **

Chris and Prue's blue-white orbs spiralled into the police station, briefly lighting up the unusual gloominess of Darryl's office.

"What's going on?" Prue gasped, staring out of the splintered door, hanging drunkenly on its hinges, and out into the main area.

Desks were toppled over, broken and smashed and other debris littered the floor. It looked as though a hurricane had wreaked total devastation on the station.

"I don't think anything's going on anymore." replied Chris grimly, worry clearly evident on his face.

Prue hopped over the fallen chair and cast her gaze around the room. "There's no-one here either." she told Chris, "But look," she noticed, with a feeling of increasing dread, "Scorch marks."

Chris looked wildly around Darryl's office; no scorch marks there. A brief feeling of relief, calmed his worries for Darryl, but there was still the possibility that he was…

Prue voiced Chris's thoughts, "Do you think Darryl's ok?" she asked in a small voice.

Chris forced himself to give a reassuring grin, "I'm sure he is. There aren't any scorch marks in here. And anyway, I mean, Wyatt, we know he's planning something, I mean, if he did this, well, he knows Darryl, he wouldn't hurt him."

"You think?" Prue looked slightly sceptical, "I don't think we know him anymore. The Wyatt I knew couldn't have ordered this."

Chris shook his head fiercely, "Wyatt wouldn't allow anyone to hurt Darryl." 'I hope' he added silently.

"So are all the officers…dead then?"

Chris could only shake his head, "I don't know. But I don't see any other possibility…"

---------------

This was more like it.

Wyatt tilted his head back and let out a giddy laugh in exhilaration. He stood in the ornately decorated office formerly belonging to the mayor on San Francisco. Now it belonged to him.

He surveyed the city out of the window, the cracked pane distorting the rippling fire leaping up from a few of the buildings. Soon the city would be his; the people either dead or too scared to fight back.

The Elder's had thought he had withdrawn, retreated to regroup. They had no idea about the size of his forces, the resources he had at his command.

A sharp knock disrupted Wyatt's thoughts. "Come in." he instructed, making his way to sit in the throne-like wooden chair, behind the Mayor's desk.

A demon entered, his clothes stained with blood. "We have brought the police officer, my Lord, as you commanded."

"He is unharmed?" Wyatt asked calmly.

There was the briefest of hesitations before the demon spoke again, "He tried to fright back. We were forced to restrain him."

Wyatt remained silent, his gaze boring into the demon.

The demon swallowed nervously, "We had to defend ourselves, my Lord." he justified, "There is no serious harm done to the human."

"Bring him in." ordered Wyatt, deciding to make no further mention of the demon's conduct at the moment. That could come later, after the attack had concluded.

---------------

Sheila's brown eyes tearfully searched Chris's in disbelief and horror. "But Darryl…" she gasped wildly, "He's not…He's…Is he…?"

Chris could only shrug his shoulders helplessly.

Sheila collapsed into a nearby chair, her shaking hand over her eyes. Prue hurried to her side and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "I can't see Wyatt hurting him. Darryl's like an uncle to him, to all of us." Prue told her, trying to inject her voice with some conviction. She didn't know what to believe anymore, but Chris had faith so she could hope too.

"I'll start scrying." Chris announced decisively, "And I'll try to sense him…whatever will work."

Sheila sniffed, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "But you can't go outside!" she exclaimed, "Haven't you seen…I called you down to see it…you must have been at the office…You can't go outside, you'll be killed!"

Chris and Prue exchanged mystified glances, "Sheila, what…?" Chris asked.

"The news." Sheila clarified, "What's going on in the city outside. It's…It's horrible. Demons are attacking…magic had been exposed. Look on the T.V.!"

With an increasing sense of dread Chris reached for the remote and clicked on the T.V. Sheila had been right. Every channel was filled with the news that San Francisco was under attack. And the attackers were not human.

Wide-eyed interviewees were shouting different perpetrators, "Aliens!", "Government conspiracy!", "Terrorists!". But some were defiantly getting close to the mark with cries of 'Witchcraft!' and 'Demons!'.

The camera cut back to the slightly breathless reporter standing just outside the city, with pillars of smoke in the backdrop. "Government forced are being sent here as I speak," she informed the world, "But the extent and severity of this attack is not to be underestimated. These…things…are blocking every road in and out of the city with some kind of invisible barriers. Any information we have is limited and it is unlikely that we shall know any more about this than the attackers wish us to." She paused, a look of solemnity falling on her features, "Our hopes and prayers are with the people of San Francisco today."

Almost as in a dream, Chris's shaking fingers found the red 'off' switch on the remote and the T.V. screen tumbled into blackness.

"What has he done?" whispered Prue, grasping the back of the sofa. Her fingers flared white as they pressed deep into the soft fabric. "How can he have done this?"

"Wyatt?" Chris asked hoarsely.

Prue nodded. "This is what he was planning, isn't it? The other attacks were just preliminary, to eliminate the main threats."

Chris could only agree. "It looks that way."

"What are we going to do?" Prue asked, still staring blankly at the empty screen.

"You and Sheila are going to stay here and protect the house. Put up every defensive spell you can think of, crystals, the lot." Chris instructed them.

"But what are you going to do?" Even though she asked the question, both Sheila and Prue could tell what was on Chris's mind.

"If you're going to fight out there, then so am I." declared Prue, folding her arms in defiance.

"No." Chris shook his head. "It's too dangerous."

"But…"

"No buts." Chris interrupted almost angrily, "Someone needs to look after Sheila; If Darryl was a target then she will likely be one too."

Prue pouted, but didn't protest anymore, unable to ignore the sense in what Chris was saying.

"I'm going to see what I can find out," Chris stated grimly, "and so much the worse for any demons I happen to come across."

---------------

The corridor was streaked with grime and blood, footprinted in the once lush carpet. The edges of Darryl's vision was blurry and fading but he could make out lifeless bodies slumped in adjoining offices, triumphant leers of the guarding demons.

Darryl stumbled as his leg gave way, the demons flanking him increasing their grasps on his arms in response. He blinked blood out of his eyes and forced him self to carry on walking.

He didn't know where they were taking him. He just forced himself to keep on placing one foot in front of the other, and stop his thoughts dwelling on the massacre at his office.

Suddenly the demons stopped, forcing Darryl to an abrupt halt. He staggered, then regained his balance, raising his aching head to see the heavy wooden door, with a familiar patterned engraving.

Darryl's face flickered into a frown. Where was he?

The sharp rap on the door, given by one of the demons, reverberated around his brain and made pain explode behind his eyes. 'The mayor's office.' Darryl realised dimly, 'Is he involved in this?'

However when the door swung open and he was thrust into the room, it wasn't the mayor he came face to face with.

It was Wyatt.


	9. Attacking Orders

Aren't you all so impressed with me? I've updated in about a week! Wow! I'm so proud of myself! Yay! Go me!  
Anyway...Hope you all like the next chapter!  
Reviews would be much appreciated!**

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Chapter 9: Attacking Orders **

Wyatt's steely gaze encompassed Darryl's dishevelled and bloodstained appearance. His lips tightened imperceptibly. It wasn't so much the actuality of it but the principal. He had given strict orders that Darryl was not to be hurt.

"You had your orders." Wyatt spat at the demons who had brought Darryl. He narrowed his eyes at them, making sure they could see his apparent burning rage.

There was a pause, the demons exchanging fear filled looks. "My…My Lord?" one of them ventured almost timidly.

"He was not to be harmed." Wyatt emphasised each syllable, yet again let the only outward sign of anger be in his eyes.

"I believe he…he fought against coming here." the demon tried to explain, lowering his red eyes in a show of deference.

Wyatt paused briefly, inwardly admiring the cunning of the demon. The demon was subtly informing Wyatt that he had not been involved in this, yet it was not blatant enough for the lower intelligence of the other demon to recognise.

However, now was not the time for all this. Wyatt beckoned imperiously to the demon, while with an easy flick of his fingers conjured flames to engulf the other.

"What's your name?" he demanded over the brief screaming of the dying demon.

"Kezlar, my Lord."

Wyatt briefly studied the demon, aware time was moving on and he needed to question Darryl. Kezlar was a brute demon, 'that much was obvious', mused Wyatt. Tall, muscled and almost human in appearance.

"I have a job for you." Wyatt instructed Kezlar. "Kill Dracnis for me."

"The demon who led your troops here?" clarified Kezlar, the importance of this task not lost on him.

"Yes. Kill him then return here. Wait outside until I summon you." commanded Wyatt.

A feverish light glowed in the demons red eyes as he murmured, "Yes my Lord."

Wyatt waited until the door had been closed behind Kezlar before turning his attention to Darryl.

Darryl had remained silent throughout the proceedings, still desperately clinging onto the last verges of consciousness.

"Sit." Wyatt commanded, telekinetically moving a chair in front of the desk.

To hurt and weary to protest Darryl painfully lowered himself into the chair and sat silently, waiting for Wyatt to say something; to give a reason for all this bloodshed.

Wyatt leant back in his chair his gaze locked on Darryl but his mouth unmoving.

Darryl glared back, feeling some of his strength come back to him now he was sitting. 'Two can play at this game.' Darryl thought bitterly, refusing to be the first to break the silence.

After a few minutes of this uncomfortable silence Wyatt nodded to himself. He had never expected Darryl to give in.

"So." he pronounced, his voice deep and powerful.

"So." agreed Darryl. "You are behind this then. All the killings."

"I am."

Darryl frowned. He thought he could detect traces of amusement in Wyatt's expression. "Why." he demanded tightly.

"Why? Quite simply, Uncle Darryl, because I can."

---------------

Chris materialised in a narrow, gloomy alleyway. The sudden and unusual bright light disrupting a scavenging rat rooting through the discarded rubbish bags. The rat paused, sniffing the air, then at a slight movement from Chris, scurried away into the shadows.

Not noticing this movement Chris crept towards the mouth of the alley, cautiously peering round the crumbling brick walls.

The amount of activity and the sheer number of demons proved to Chris his hunch was right. The city hall was where Wyatt's operations seemed to be based.

Chris settled down to watch, his keen eyes studying every movement in front of him. He wondered if he could get inside without being spotted. Orbing was most definitely out of the question. The place would be protected against that, without a doubt.

But then how to find out what the demons next plans were?

His brow furrowed in concentration as he debated the problem.

---------------

Prue drummed her fingers impatiently on the table. Chris had only been gone for fifteen minutes but it felt like a lifetime. She felt so helpless!

"So the crystals wont allow any demons to enter?" Sheila tried to clarify, more for the sake of making conversation than wanting to know the details.

Prue shook her head. "They won't allow anyone to enter. Not just demons."

"Oh. That's good then." Sheila offered a smile at Prue.

Prue, realising Sheila was trying to take her mind off what was happening outside, gave Sheila a watery smile in return.

She opened her mouth to make some conversational comment when a pulse of energy from the crystals made her jump out of her seat.

"What…?" Sheila began nervously.

"Someone's trying to get in."

---------------

Kezlar let a satisfied smirk twist his features as Dracnis' surprised shouts faded into the fiery furnace.

The door burst open as a breathless demon searched for the source of the yelling.

"Orders." Kezlar informed her, "From Lord Wyatt himself."

The demon tried to wipe the uncertainty off her face. One did not question Lord Wyatt's orders. She nodded and left the room, Kezlar following behind.

Kezlar stumped his way back up to Lord Wyatt's office, so lost in his triumph that he didn't notice the scuffle of confusion until he had almost walked into the diminutive looking demon with the pointed nose who was making most of the fuss.

"I'm telling you it was him!" the demon insisted, "Lord Wyatt must be told!"

Another demon snarled condescendingly, "And you're sure are you? If you want to die then go ahead and tell Lord Wyatt yourself."

Kezlar interrupted, "What is going on?" he demanded.

"Marzo, there, reckons he saw the youngest Charmed son outside in an alley." sneered the second demon.

"And why is that so unbelievable Jarga?" demanded Marzo, "Sounds like you're trying to protect him."

"How dare you!" yelled Jarga, a spitting energy ball forming in his hand, "I am loyal to Lord Wyatt!"

"Shut up." cut in Kezlar. "You," he pointed to Marzo, "Come with me. Lord Wyatt needs to hear this."

---------------

Sheila felt her breath catch in her throat as Prue grabbed a potion off the table and entered the hallway.

She followed Prue's example, picking up a cloudy potion and positioning herself in the doorway

Prue swung round, noticed Sheila and pulled a face. "I can't see anything."

"Nothing can get in anyway though can it?" Sheila reiterated.

"Nope." Prue agreed.

There was a brief pause as they both stood listening. "So, what does this one do?" Sheila asked, gesturing to the potion she was holding.

"It's a one size only vanquishing potion!" Prue quipped, breaking the tension. "Basically it should vanquish most demons, and even hurt upper level ones."

"Oh right. So…"

Sheila broke off as the pulse of energy came again. The crystal near the front door glowed brightly and splinters of white light spun off encasing the house in a protective bubble.

---------------

"Because you can." Darryl repeated flatly, disgust very much in evidence on his face. "Because you can?" he repeated in a sudden burst of vehemence and disbelief.

"I am the most powerful being alive on this planet so give me one good reason why I shouldn't rule it." Wyatt replied calmly.

Darryl was lost for words for a moment and a wave of dizziness and nausea hit him. He forced himself to swallow and give Wyatt an answer, "It's…It's wrong!" he insisted.

"Wrong?" repeated Wyatt, rising form his seat, "You mean evil? What _is_ evil? Answer me that."

"Wha…? Evil is…is…"

"Is what?" demanded Wyatt, passion burning in his eyes, a fervent expression on his face, "You don't know what it is. It's just something designed to prevent us from reaching our potential. The world's not about good and evil; it's about power!"

Wyatt paused breathing heavily and sat down again. He continued, calmer this time, "You see Darryl, it really is that simple. I have the most power therefore I can, and will, rule."

"And this is how you go about it, is it? Killing and murdering." Darryl knew it was hopeless but he still felt he had to try to make Wyatt see sense.

"If necessary, yes."

Darryl stared back into the eyes of a cold-hearted monster. Nothing could be more clearer that the happy child he had seen grow up was no longer recognisable.

The faint sound of rough voices could be heard growling outside the door followed by a heavy knock at the door.

The faint traces of a frown flickered across Wyatt's face. "I gave orders not to be disturbed." he muttered angrily.

The knock sounded again, not hesitant but urgent.

Wyatt sighed in annoyance. "Come in." he directed coldly.

The door opened and Kezlar entered, closely followed by Marzo. "I am sorry to interrupt my Lord, I know you gave orders not to be disturbed, however this demon has something to tell you, which may be of immediate importance."

Wyatt switched his gaze to the trembling, watery-eyed demon, "Well?"

"My Lord," Marzo began in wavering tones, "I…I…I am a shapeshifter and…and while transformed in an alley very close to here I saw a…a young man orb in. It…it was…your brother, I am sure of it My Lord."

"Chris? Here?" A slight grin of amusement flittered across Wyatt's face, "What was he doing?"

"Watching this building My Lord." Marzo replied, trying to inject some confidence into his voice, "He appeared to be studying what was going on."

"And he didn't see you?" asked Wyatt lazily.

"No, My Lord, I was transformed, as a rat, you see. I came here to tell you as soon as I could."

Kezlar let out a snort of derision, "And every other demon along the way." he sneered.

Wyatt quelled Kezlar with an icy look. "Other's know about this?" he enquired calmly.

"I…I only told a….a few My Lord." muttered Marzo.

"Very well, have you anything else to add?"

Marzo shook his head, looking desperate to get out of Wyatt's gaze. "No, My Lord."

"Good." Wyatt stretched out a hand towards the demon and suddenly clenched his fist.

Darryl looked on in horror as Marzo gasped for breath, scaly hands grasping at his throat. Marzo's bulbous eyes swelled as the demon's air supply was cut off and exploded in a shriek, leaving behind the faint acrid smell of burning.

Wyatt turned to Kezlar, "Round up those who have been told of my brother's presence and go with them to capture him, if he is still there. Do not let him escape."

"Yes, My Lord. No, My Lord."

Kezlar turned to go but stopped as Wyatt added on "And make sure he is not harmed. At all." Wyatt paused significantly, "This is an absolute order. You saw what will happen if an accident happens."

Kezlar swallowed nervously, "Yes, My Lord."

"Oh, and make sure the demons are all killed after they have done their job. I don't want this getting out." Wyatt added almost casually.

Kezlar nodded. "Absolutely, My Lord."


	10. Unwelcome Guests

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Hope you like this chapter! and please review if you like or don't like!

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**Chapter 10**

Kezlar stood aloof from the eager mutterings of the demons surrounding him. He was still caught up in his newfound importance and was desperate to make what he imagined was the right impression.

"Lord Wyatt's brother must not be harmed." he reiterated, trying to impress this order on the demons. Kezlar had no illusions as to who would be blamed if an accident did occur. He swallowed nervously in a suddenly dry throat.

"I can do this." Jarga scoffed, waving a casual clawed hand in the air. He seemed to be ignoring his earlier disbelief of the sighting of Chris, Kezlar noticed wryly.

"And the ressst of usss are expected jussst to tag along for the ride?" hissed a slit-eyed demon, a forked tongue slithering over her pointed teeth in emphasis, "You can't claim all of the actsssion."

Kezlar fixed the demon with a piercing gaze, "Lord Wyatt has expressly forbidden any harm to come to his brother." he reminded her sharply, inwardly praying to the whole of hell that this order would not be forgotten in the heat of the battle.

"And thisss is to be adhered to even if he fightsss back? Even if it would save out livesss?" The snake demon tossed her black hair haughtily and stared arrogantly back at Kezlar.

"Yes." he replied shortly, "If he is harmed then Lord Wyatt will kill you all anyway."

Kezlar bit back the smirk that threatened to appear on his thickset face at the irony of this. They would all die anyway, but they didn't need to know that now.

The snake demon hissed angrily, but turned away with an annoyed flick of her tongue. "Letsss get this ssshow on the road then." she proposed.

"Gladly." Jarga sneered, promptly shimmering away.

An irritant hiss could be heard as the snake demon followed suit, only a split second behind.

Kezlar rolled his eyes in annoyance as the other three demons stood there uncertain of whether to follow.

"Go!" he yelled exasperatedly.

Suitably shocked, the three shimmered out, leaving Kezlar in a small oasis of calm from the chaos reigning in the rest of the city.

--------------

"Oh! Oh my God!" gasped Sheila, the bright light emanating from the crystal reflected in her eyes.

"Stay here!" Prue yelled approaching the front door. She could hear nothing from outside.

Gripping her potion tighter she tensely hurried back down the hallway, past Sheila and into the lounge.

Kneeling on the sofa she peered out of the window, seeing nothing but a deserted garden, the tree branches swaying in the gentle wind.

"I don't see anyone." she reported back to Sheila, "No demons."

Sheila began to relax when a loud buzzing sound, made the tendrils of light shake and glow even brighter.

Prue spun round to face the window again and her eyes widened at the cloud of blue-white orbs being bounced off the protective force field.

They reformed into a human shape lying in a bundle of dishevelled golden robes in the middle of Sheila and Darryl's garden.

"Ooops." Prue muttered, before turning to Sheila and calling "False alarm. It's an Elder."

Prue reached out for the crystal in front of her and broke the circle for a moment, giving the Elder time to orb out and rematerialise in the living room.

--------------

Darryl ignored the haze that was threatening to obscure his vision and leant forward to peer at Wyatt's face.

"What are you going to do to him?" Darryl asked worriedly.

"Who? Chris?" Wyatt turned his attention back to Darryl, "Oh, nothing too severe, I shouldn't think."

Darryl scowled, not amused at Wyatt's levity. "Wyatt." he growled.

"I ask the questions here." Wyatt said harshly in response, his imperial mask back on his face, "And I would only like the answer to one question. A question that has been simplified by Chris's presence here."

Darryl raised an enquiring eyebrow signalling for Wyatt to continue.

"Where," Wyatt demanded, "are Prue and Sheila?"

--------------

Chris clocked the change of guards, noting with some satisfaction that this involved a great deal of confused hustle as the variety of demons forced themselves to act civilly to their sneering rivals.

There was enough activity, Chris decided, to allow him to enter the building, if not unnoticed, then at least ignored by the guards.

Unfortunately, Chris realised, he would now have to wait until the next change of guards before attempting his plan, and he had no idea how long that would be.

He leant back against the crumbling brick wall, frowning thoughtfully. He was inwardly debating whether to go back to check on Prue and Sheila and risk missing the next changeover, when a scuffling from behind made him swing around.

He peered further down the gloomy alley, seeing nothing except deepening shadows.

Was there anything there?

He took a step forward, unconsciously holding his breath. He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing up and his senses screaming the presence of a demon.

Chris flexed his fingers and conjured up a sneer on his face. "Alright." he called loudly, "I know you're there, so why don't you come out and stop playing hide and seek."

"Ssso brave and yet ssso foolisssh." hissed a feminine disembodied voice, its derisive tone clearly evident.

"But then," another voice, this one harsh and guttural, continued, "We already knew he was as arrogant as only one being Lord Wyatt's brother could become."

"So you're Wyatt's lackeys then" taunted Chris, advancing towards the sound of their voices and pulling a silver athame from inside of his jacket.

He heard an angry hiss from one of the demons, interrupted by the other growling, "Lets get this over with."

"By all means." Chris replied calmly.

The two demons stepped forward from the shadows and Chris raised his athame in response. They began circling each other.

"Look at him dancssse." the snake demon jeered, slithering her tongue out at him in apparent amusement.

Chris took a step sideways, to avoid being backed up against the wall and realised that he had now turned through 180 degrees and was facing the mouth of the alley.

The two demons had stopped moving and seemed content with their current positions, yet, Chris noticed, they still made no move to attack.

'That must mean…'

Chris suddenly spun round, the athame leaving his hand and burying itself in the breastbone of a short, horny skinned demon.

Its brief expression of shock, before exploding into a fine dusting of ash, was mirrored in the other two demon's faces.

Realising he was now surrounded, Chris gestured violently at the demon, Jarga, with one hand, sending him flying backwards to land painfully against the alley wall. At the same time he stretched out his other hand towards where his athame was lying and brought it swooping up for his outstretched fingers to grasp.

One of the demons from behind took a running jump at him, only to join his fellow attacker into oblivion as Chris savagely twisted the athame into his stomach.

The snake demon crouched into a fighting position and let out a sharp kick, catching Chris on the side, and sending him crashing to the ground, swearing.

The third demon powered up an energy ball, all orders forgotten in the heat of battle, and released it straight at Chris's prone form.

With a desperate shout, Chris flung a hand towards the energy ball. It hovered briefly, inches away from his face, before shooting back at its conjuror, vanquishing the demon amongst yells of pain.

By this time Jarga had got to his feet again, and was glaring at Chris with narrowed eyes. He sent another energy ball, but Chris was prepared this time, and flipped over back onto his feet, the energy ball extinguishing itself harmlessly on the ground.

The snake demon went in for the attack again, aiming a clenched fist at Chris's head. He ducked and lashed out with his hand. The demon was thrown backwards to collide with Jarga, both of them ending up in a heap on the floor.

Chris raised his athame to shoulder height and sent it flying at the two demons. Jarga rolled out of the way, an arm across his face to shield his eyes from the flames signalling the demise of the snake demon.

He reached out a clawed hand and pulled himself into a crouch.

Chris stretched out his hand and telekinetically pulled the athame towards him as Jarga dove at him, slamming against the wall.

Chris blinked slightly dazed as the world spun for a moment. He felt the athames handle gently touch his fingertips, before the effort proved too much for his painful head, and it dropped lifelessly to the ground.

Crowing in satisfaction, Jarga wrapped one hand around Chris's neck and grabbed the front of his shirt with the other, tearing the material.

Chris could feel the sharp claws digging into his neck, before the world flickered and he was pulled into Jarga's shimmer, leaving the alley behind to materialise inside the city hall.


	11. Sanctuary or Prison?

Hiya everyone! I'm sooooo sorry I havent updated for ages (I know I always say this! so sorry for that too!) Please don't have given up this story as a lost cause! It's still going, I promise! I will get round to finishing it, honestly! Thank you so much for staying with this story despite the irregular updates! And hopefully there will be some new readers too! Please keep reviewing! Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Oh and sorry there isnt any Wyatt and Chris interaction in this chapter...that will happen in the next chapter, this one is more focused on Prue.**

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**Chapter 11**

"Where are we?" Prue gasped, looking around in undisguised awe at the beautiful surroundings.

The Elder, who had introduced himself as Orion, smiled slightly. "We call it sanctuary." he explained, "It is a place we have hidden for many millennia, in case of a situation such as we have now."

"What situation is that? The killings?" asked Sheila, a mixture of amazement and confusement on her face.

"Yes, partly. I will explain it all to you later, with the other Elder's present." Orion, gestured for them to start walking down a paved pathway, lit even in the bright sun with small, twinkling fairy lights. "We did not know that we would have to take you here until a few hours previously." Orion elaborated, "Until we cast out gazes towards the future and saw a glimpse of what was to come."

"Which was…?" Prue asked, curiously.

Orion shook his head, "I am afraid I cannot tell you. Not entirely. Suffice it to say that both of you were in danger; enough danger for us to permit the extraordinary allowance of non-Elders, especially a mortal, to Sanctuary."

"In danger from who?" Prue persisted, "Wyatt? He-he wouldn't have hurt us, would he?"

Orion hesitated, "I don't know how to tell you this," he began reluctantly, a sympathetic expression evident on his face, "But, Wyatt, he came up here. Shortly after the first attack on San Francisco, this was. He-he killed many of the Elders and Whitelighters, single-handedly. We lost a great many."

"That's awful!" gasped Sheila horrified.

"Yes, yes it was, but I'm afraid, that's there's more I need to tell you. The first casualty, we believe he stood up to Wyatt, tried to reason with him, all to no avail though…"

"Uncle Leo."

Orion bowed his head. "I am sorry."

---------------

"Why would I tell _you_ where they are?" demanded Darryl, a fierce determination in his heart that Wyatt was not going to hurt Sheila or Prue.

"Well," Wyatt let a cruel grin darken his features, "it's a dangerous world out there. Demons roaming the streets, under orders to kill any magical beings they find. Oh, and anyone who's hiding witches come under the same heading too."

Wyatt waited until the full significance of his words had dawned on Darryl before continuing. "So, you see, it's probably safer for them here, under my protection, than alone and defenceless out there."

Darryl swallowed his fear and managed to snort in angry disbelief, "Safe? Here? With you? Somehow I don't think so. I'll let them take their chances. They're not stupid, and Prue is perfectly capable of protecting both of them. And when your demons fail to catch Chris then they'll be doubly safe."

Darryl stood up and spread his hands out on the desk, leaning forwards into Wyatt steely gaze. "I won't sell them out, Wyatt. Not to you, not to anyone."

'And besides,' Darryl thought to himself grimly, 'I really don't know where they are if they're not at home.'

"Well," Wyatt stood up to match Darryl and looked at him coldly, all traces of recognition gone, "You can't deny that you had your chance to make things easier for yourself. I was willing to ignore your initial acts, give you time to realise my legitimate claim as ruler, but you've made your position perfectly clear."

Wyatt pressed a button on his desk and spoke through a speaker, "Send for Kezlar."

"Yes my Lord." crackled the speaker.

---------------

"Take that you filthy witch" snarled Jarga gleefully slamming Chris hard against the wall.

Chris slumped to the ground, moaning in pain, as he tried to recollect his senses and gather his bearings.

They were inside the city hall, he realised with a sinking feeling. He shook his fuzzy head and tried to find his footing as Jarga grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet.

Hearing clomping footsteps nearing them, Chris looked up to see an enormous brute demon striding down the corridor.

"Lord Wyatt gave orders not to harm the witch." Kezlar spat angrily.

Jarga curled his lip in annoyance and shook Chris's arm violently, "He's fine." Jarga sneered, "No permanent injuries. Unlike the other demons. Fools."

"They were all killed?" Kezlar inquired.

"Uh huh." Jarga drew himself up to full height, "I was the only one powerful enough to defeat the witch." he boasted.

"And you'll be rewarded for that." retorted Kezlar, trying to keep the mocking tone out of his voice.

"Good, good." smirked Jarga, an anticipatory gleam shining in his eyes.

Kezlar pulled a knife from his belt then reached forward, jamming the sharp blade into Jarga's chest. He twisted the knife savagely, grinning at the frozen look of surprise on Jarga's features, before they exploded in a burst of flames.

Chris threw his arm in front of his face as he felt the heat of Jarga's fiery demise. It was a few seconds before he realised that he was now not being restrained in any way, but Kezlar quickly dispelled any ideas of escape by raising the knife to Chris's neck.

"Don't think of trying anything, witch." he snarled.

Chris winced as Kezlar grasped his shoulder tightly. "Move." The demon commanded, "You're to be taken to the cells until Lord Wyatt wishes to see you."

Resigning himself to doing as he was told until he could find a way out, Chris started walking towards captivity.


	12. Fears of Meeting

OK, I lied, the Wyatt and Chris interaction will be in the next chapter...Sorry! I had planned it for this chapter, but I changed my mind. To be honest this is kind of a filler chapter, setting the scene and all that, but cross my heart and hope to die that the next chapter wont be!

Thanks to everyone who r n r'd. Hugs and Kisses to you all!

Please keep reviewing!

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**Chapter 12: Fears of Meeting**

_The sword is just lying there. _

_Alone, defenceless, unprotected._

_It seems all too easy to just stretch out my hand and close my fingers around the gilded hilt. Way too easy._

_I hesitate, my outstretched fingers eerily casting claw-like shadows on the marble ground. Maybe it's a trap. After all, He wouldn't be so careless as to leave it unguarded, would he?_

_My mind is telling me it's not worth it; even if I can take Excalibur it won't guarantee me my life. It's not meant for me. It's meant for him._

_But then again, who says it's not meant for me?_

_I move closer, my hand inching closer and closer to the hilt. I can feel a strong pull from it. Part of me is yelling that it's just the magic of the sword, that it wants to be used again, to taste blood again. But yet…_

_The thought is unfocused in my mind, barely in my consciousness, but I can still sense it. A voice of sanity, of reason. Telling me not to trust my instincts, the sword is not for me, it will corrupt me._

_For, after all, the sword follows its master._

_Decisively, I withdraw my hand. _

_I will not take it._

_I turn away swiftly, before I loose the strength to do so._

_I take a step forward but stop, frozen to the ground. I had heard something. A metallic click. Like the sound of a sword against stone._

_I spin around._

_My vision is filled with the unforgiving steel of the sword. I stand hypnotised as it sweeps towards me; in his hands._

_No!_

_I scream silently, but no sound can come out of my mouth._

_The familiar sensation of coldness comes over me, numbing my senses._

_My vision disappears; I am surrounded by darkness._

_It is too late._

---------------

The clamour of the guard's baton rapping against his jail cell, jerked Chris to a painful awakening.

The last traces of the dream still swum around in his head, as his eyes grew used to the darkened room he had been kept in. It was the dream again…

It wasn't the same as the other he had had but it ended the same way, as had Prue's dream. Getting stabbed by Excalibur.

"Hey!" the demon guard threw an energy ball at the metal bars, the sparking immediately catching Chris's full attention

"What?" Chris muttered sullenly, getting to his aching feet.

"Lord Wyatt wishes to see you now," the demon informed him, unlocking the door with a wave of his hand, "Come."

The demon reached a clawed hand into the cell and roughly grabbed Chris's arm, pushing him in front. "Walk." he commanded shortly.

Chris glanced down at the metallic band encircling his ankle. It was a new invention of Wyatt's apparently, a clever mix of magic and technology. It prevented the wearer from using magic, generating a small electric current to shock the wearer if any magic was attempted; the shock in proportion to the magic. After a few painful attempts at orbing, Chris had eventually given up on trying to escape and decided he might as well get some sleep. However the dream seemed to have robbed him of any rest he had tried to get and now he was feeling tetchy and downright pissed off. 'Not the best of moods to meet my evil older brother in.' Chris thought wryly.

Chris tried to keep his head held high as the demon guided him through the maze of corridors and staircases; aware of the gazes he was drawing from the demons, who all seemed to be very organised and businesslike.

Eventually they reached a wide, important-looking, wooden door, guarded by four immense brute demons. Chris, recognised one of them as the demon who had led him to his cell last night.

Kezlar cast his gaze over Lord Wyatt's brother, and noticed with satisfaction that there were no obvious signs of mistreatment, besides his dishevelled appearance, which could all too well be down to a night in the cells.

He knocked heavily on the door, 'which was apparently built strong enough to withstand a brute demon's strength' Chris noticed.

Chris hissed his breath through his teeth as a authoritative voice rang out, "Come in."

Kezlar opened the door and gestured for Chris to proceed into the room, an anticipatory grin on his face.

Seeing no profit in disobeying, Chris entered the room with a feeling of foreboding.

Wyatt was sitting regally behind the desk a cold smile on his face.

"Welcome Chris."

---------------

The reporter stared solemnly at the camera, his black suit and tie appropriate for the news. "It has been two days since the apparent take-over of San Francisco by forces unknown, and there is still, as yet, no news from inside the city. The barriers erected by the hostiles have been impenetrable to the army and attempts from other UN forces have also had no success."

The camera's spanned the city in the backdrop, huge tanks and marching soldiers completing the scene, before switching back to the reporter.

"All terrorist organisations have denied involvement in this attack and rumours are flying about the perpetrators. The most persistent theory being that hostile aliens have attacked the city, although there has been no evidence that this has any basis in truth. However other theories are beginning to take hold, and in some cases taken to the extreme. It has been reported that in central New York, two young women have been burned alive by youths convinced they were witches and were responsible for this attack on San Francisco. This theory of witchcraft has been very popular in certain areas, especially due to the magical appearance of the mysterious barriers and the equally strange disruption of all radio and television signals."

"This has prevented all contact with the city, leaving many families unable to speak with their loved ones, sparking fears that many have been killed. This fear is not ungrounded as mere hours before the communication shut down reports were flooding in of a spate of citywide murders."

The television began to show earlier footage of the coverage of the murders, and having already seen this, Prue pressed the mute button on the TV and sat back, staring blankly at the white walls of the room she had been given at Sanctuary.

"Where are you Chris?" she whispered worriedly.

The Elders didn't know where he was and he hadn't returned from going to stake out the city hall. Prue wished he was safe, but a voice in the back of her head told her that he had been captured or killed. Why else would he not be here?

"Please, Chris," she begged to the ceiling, "I don't want to lose you too."


	13. Sleep Tight

**Chapter 13:**

"It's good to see you, brother. I'm glad you came" Wyatt said calmly, gesturing for Chris to sit in the chair opposite him.

"I wasn't aware I had any choice in the matter." Chris retorted, giving Wyatt a quick scowl before seating himself in the hard backed chair.

Wyatt laughed, "True." he conceded, "although you do only have yourself to blame. Did you really think that I wouldn't have my stronghold watched?"

"So this is your stronghold, huh?" questioned Chris nonchalantly.

A small grin of satisfaction spread across Wyatt's face, "Christopher, Christopher, do you really think that I am going to give you any information about my activities that you could not have already worked out? And to be perfectly honest, even if it were not obvious where my operations above ground are based, what could you do with the information?"

"You mean seeing as you are keeping me prisoner." Chris muttered sullenly, annoyed Wyatt could see straight through him.

Wyatt's grin widened. "Precisely."

"Don't be so smug!" Chris ground out, unable to contain his annoyance, "You think you've won? You think everyone is just going to give up? Well think again, Wyatt! Maybe you should open your eyes to the world outside. The army is besieging the city and it wont be long before everyone unites against you."

Every trace of levity had left Wyatt's eyes. "And so what if they do?" he demanded coldly, "Even if every man, woman and child fought with everything they had they could not overthrow me. I am the wielder of Excalibur and if I wish to rule, then so be it!"

"You weren't given that sword to murder and destroy!" yelled Chris heatedly.

"No-one _gave_ me the sword." Wyatt spat back, rising up and placing his hands on the table, leaning forwards to look Chris in the face, "I was born to it, to do whatever I want. I am the twice-blessed and I have been blessed with the power to take control."

"And so that's what you're going to do?" cut in Chris, "Take control? Simply because you can?"

Wyatt sighed, sitting back down again, "Why can you not see this the way I do? None of you can. You, Prue, Mum… you all act like you were given your powers to save people who would destroy you if they realised your true potential. It's time to stop hiding and be proud of who we are!"

Chris glared; his brown eyes piercing Wyatt's blue ones. "That may work on demonic rabble." he retorted, "But not on me, nor anyone with any shred of humanity in them. What ever you wish to believe, we were given out powers to help, Wyatt, not to harm."

Wyatt shook his head in disbelief. "Listen to yourself! The Elders have brainwashed you. Their only reason for their preaching is that they fear control may be taken away from them. They fear that one day someone will be powerful enough to remove their incessant meddling. That's why they feared the Avatars so much; they saw themselves in them."

Chris shook his head in disgust. "You've changed Wyatt." he said simply, "You used to truly believe in good but now you're just obsessed with power."

"There is no good and evil, Chris. Simply two sides, each of which strive to overcome the other. The concepts of good and evil are simply their recruitment methods."

Wyatt leaned forwards, his eyes alight in fervour, "Join me, Chris. Fight with me. Together we could be so strong."

Chris shook his head. "No." he replied firmly, "I'm sorry, Wyatt, I really am. But I can't fight with you. I wont."

"Then so be it." Wyatt spat angrily. He reached across the table and orbed them down to Chris's cell in what had formerly been the basement.

"What are we doing?" Chris asked, trying to keep the fear out of his voice. He felt naked and defenceless being unable to use his powers.

"You've made your choice." Wyatt replied, "Now live with the consequences. You've put yourself with my enemies, so I will treat you like one of them."

'So he already has enemies', Chris mused silently, 'There are people out there who knew what he was planning.'

"You've allied yourself with the Elders." Wyatt continued, "Our mother would be ashamed. You now how much she hated those arrogant busybodies."

"You wont turn me Wyatt." Chris said absently, his mind on what Wyatt had just said. The Elders? They had known. But that must mean…Leo, their father had known what his eldest son was up to, and…done nothing?

"Where are Prue and Aunt Sheila?" Wyatt demanded suddenly.

"Wha-" Chris was brought back to the present, "Why would I tell you?" he attempted a sneer, trying to appear defiant.

"To prevent this from happening." Wyatt replied ominously. He stretched a hand in Chris's direction and clenched his fist. Chris gasped as he tried to find air. He felt like his throat had been closed off. He fell to his knees as his vision blurred. Air. He needed air!

Wyatt withdrew his hand and Chris collapsed on the floor, his breathing coming in great gasps. Wyatt waited until Chris had regained a semblance of regular breathing before asking again, "Where are Prue and Sheila?"

"I don't know." Chris replied hurriedly, "Really! I don't."

"They're not at home." Wyatt told him, watching Chris for any reaction to his words, "Now where else could they be?"

Chris shrugged, "Sorry, I can't help you with that."

This time Chris managed to gulp in a lungful of air before Wyatt started to strangle him. However Wyatt kept his telekinetic grip on him for longer, waiting until Chris had almost passed out before letting up.

Choking Chris scrambled to his feet, inwardly cursing Wyatt's magical anklet, which was preventing him from using his powers in defence.

"I told you!" he rasped, "I don't know where they are! Last time I saw them they were at the house." 'Thank God' Chris added mentally, 'At least not knowing where they are means I can't give it away.'

"Hmmmm." Wyatt looked almost as if he believed Chris.

"I'm telling the truth." Chris insisted, "And while we're at it; where's Uncle Darryl? I know he's still alive."

Wyatt smiled cruelly, "I'm asking the questions here Christopher. You? You don't get to."

"Damn you Wyatt." Chris exclaimed angrily, "I just want to know if he's ok!"

"And I just want to know where Prue and Aunt Sheila are."

Chris exploded, "I'm telling you I don't know!"

"I can hear you perfectly well. I'm just not sure if I believe you." Wyatt replied calmly.

Chris threw up his hands in exasperation, "Well fine then, keep asking. But all you're going to get is the same answer. I. Don't. Know."

"Well, well. We'll see." Wyatt told him, "I'll be back to see you later."

"So you're just going to leave me here?" demanded Chris.

Wyatt smirked, "As I said earlier, you made your choice. You've made your bed, now lie in it. Hope you're not afraid of the dark. And don't try any magic, and if you do, the anklet will give you a painful reminder why not to. Sleep tight little brother."


	14. Decisive Questioning

A/N: I finally updated!!! (Don't all faint at once coz then you wont be able to read the next fantabulous chapter!) Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I'm so sorry it took me this long to write this chapter, but I'm at uni now so have less time to sit down and write fanfiction! Don't worry though, I haven't abandoned any of my unfinished stories, just might take me a while to get around to them all!! On the plus side, this _is_ the longest chapter so far, so hopefully I'll be forgiven!  
Much love. Please R and R.

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**Chapter 14**

Chris groaned as some semblance to consciousness dragged him out of the blissful abyss. The ground was cold and hard beneath him, and his bruised limbs shrieked in protest as he shifted slightly, lifting his head from its painful position resting against the stone floor. His head ached. His whole body ached. The unrelenting cold and damp had worked its way into the very fibre of his being and sapped him of any strength he might try to yield, and still the circle of smooth metal hung heavily around his ankle preventing him from using any magic.

Two days… it was hard for Chris to believe it had only been two days since his capture. Two days of relentless questioning, two days of merciless propaganda. Chris just wanted to give in, join Wyatt, if that was what it would take to stop the torture. Dimly Chris recognised the magic that was at work, stretching the time out, magnifying his pains. If he could force himself to think rationally about it all he could put it in perspective; he knew he was strong enough to cope with this. He had been hurt before, pain was nothing new. And the talk? A few sarcastic remarks were all it normally took to counteract any doubts demons consistently tried to worm into his subconscious.

But here…? Something was different. He couldn't fight anymore. Everything was screaming at him to give in, to give up. 'Join Wyatt and make this all stop' the honeyed voices whispered, 'Things can be as they used to be, you can be true brothers again, inseparable, unstoppable…'

"No." Chris spoke out loud, his voice sounding weak and pathetic even to his own ears. "No!" he persisted again, but instead of the strength of will he was trying to inject into his voice, all he could hear was an overlay of a whine, a pleading tone. "No." he whispered, curling up into a ball and closing his eyes again. Chris wished that sleep would come to him again but the voices continued, insidious and cunning. 'Join him, and it can all be over.'

---

Five floors above, Wyatt was seated in his office, a red crystal casting an image of Chris's cell onto the wall in front of him. "Why must you be so stubborn" he hissed in annoyance at his brother's figure, Wyatt squashed a wave of guilt that spread across him at his brother plaintive cries. He walked across the room until he was standing in front of the projected image, "Why can't you see that I have to do this? I need you by my side."

Returning to his desk, Wyatt sighed. Two days…he mused, two days and Chris still hadn't broken. No one had lasted that long before. Despite the problems Chris was causing, Wyatt couldn't help but feel proud at this fact. The spell he had placed upon Chris had upper level demons caving in after mere hours, but his brother was made of stronger stuff than that. He was someone who was worthy to rule at his side.

A heavy knock on the door broke Wyatt out of his thoughts. Sitting up straight, he directed a firm "enter" at the door and waited regally for the door to open.

Kezlar entered and hovered uncertainly in the doorway, "You summoned me M'lord?"

Wyatt suppressed a grin at the brute demon's all-to-obvious fear, 'He fears I summoned him to dispose of him' Wyatt realised.

"Ah Kezlar," Wyatt spoke out loud, "Yes, sit down." Wyatt gestured to the hard wooden chair in front of his desk while, with a slight narrowing of his eyes, the door swung smoothly shut.

"M'lord." Kezlar nodded and lowered his immense bulk, the sturdy chair creaking ominously.

Wyatt pulled a report towards him and flipped it open, rereading it and tapping his fingers on the desk in annoyance, "You found no traces of them? None at all?" he questioned.

"M'lord?" asked Kezlar, frowning in confusion.

Wyatt inwardly sighed and didn't try to fight down his irritation, "My cousin and Darryl's wife. There are no leads on where they are?"

"None at all, sire," Kezlar replied, "They appear to have just vanished."

"Just vanished?" Wyatt repeated angrily, "They didn't 'just vanish', someone helped them get away and I want to know who, why and _where the hell they are now_!"

Kezlar swallowed nervously, "Yes M'lord, I'll- uh, I'll get some more demons working on it. Rightaway."

"And I suggest," Wyatt added, his voice dripping with disdain, "that questioning an Elder might be a good place to start."

"Oh!" The whirring cogs in Kezlar's head were almost visible; "You think the Elders are hiding them?"

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Wyatt replied, "If they're not in this world, nor the underworld, then that leaves only one place…" He cast his eyes skywards, as if his icy gaze could pierce the ceiling, "…up there."

---

Hidden in the Elder's sanctuary, Sheila woke with a start. She found herself tangled in the smooth white sheets and realised she must have been tossing and turning throughout the night. Her sleep had been uneasy, as her mind whirled with dreadful thoughts. Was her husband still alive? And if he was…well, she couldn't imagine that demons were particularly kind to their captives.

"Prue?" she called out, extracting herself from the bed sheets and running a hand through her hair, in an attempt to neaten it. "Are you here?"

The Elder, Orion, had given the pair of them adjoining rooms but Prue was nowhere to been seen. It took Sheila a second to locate the exit, the bright white door, blending in with the equally pure walls, but she wasted no time in twisting the handle and stepping out onto the gallery.

Sanctuary was a huge circular structure, rising high above the 'ground'. There was a large open space in the centre, currently filled with small groups of figures in golden robes. Their obvious anxiety created waves of tension, but not even this could mar the beauty of the place in Sheila's eyes.

Looking skywards she could see soft clouds floating against a pale blue background. In awe she stretched her fingers up, but the illusion was shattered when her fingertips scraped against rough rock.

It wasn't real then, Sheila realised. They were most probably underground somewhere, with magic disguising the rock as calm white walls. It was obvious that a lot of magic had gone into making the sanctuary look like what was probably home for the Elders, and she couldn't even begin to imagine how much magic the Elders must have put into protecting the place.

It felt good to feel safe again.

Looking across the gallery, Sheila spotted a familiar figure sitting on the edge, legs dangling and arms entwined around the slender bars.

She waved at her. Prue didn't appear to notice, or if she did, didn't make any attempt to return the gesture, so Sheila hurried around the gallery, slowing down as she approached the girl.

"He still hasn't come back yet." Prue told her, as soon as Sheila was within hearing range.

"Who, Chris?" Sheila placed a sympathetic hand on Prue's shoulder and lowered herself down beside her.

Prue nodded her head, her eyes glistening with tears. "He's been captured, he must have been. And with Wyatt acting as he is…"

"He'll be ok." Sheila reassured her, "Chris is strong and resourceful and…"

"…Been gone for two days!" Prue cut in forcefully, "Two days! Who knows what Wyatt will have done to him; Chris'll hardly be popular with any of the demons that Wyatt apparently surrounds himself with now."

Sheila pulled Prue into a comforting hug, "I refuse to believe that Wyatt would hurt him. Even when things were shaky between them, Wyatt always looked out for Chris."

Prue wrapped her arms around Sheila and held on as if for dear life, "I don't know if I can believe that anymore." she whispered.

"We have to stay strong, for Chris and Darryl."

"Yeah, yeah we do." Suddenly Prue knew what she had to do. She would go and rescue them herself.

---

Wyatt was unconsciously drumming his fingers on his desk. Chris was being such a nuisance, he thought irritably. Why won't he just break, why won't he just join me? After all, Wyatt allowed himself an evil smile, it was always better to back the winning side. And his was undoubtedly the winning side.

Coming to a decision, Wyatt picked up a heavy golden key from his desk and orbed out in a swirl of light.

---

The bright light illuminated Chris' cell and he instinctively screwed his eyes tighter together to protect them from the glare. The clatter of something metallic made him risk opening his eyes and he noticed that the light had subsided to a tolerable level; a few candles had been lit casting their flickering light across the rough floor.

"Wyatt." Chris spat, managing to inject some venom into his voice.

"Christopher." Wyatt replied calmly. He carefully inserted the key into the lock and twisted it sharply.

With a jolt Chris realised that the voices had stopped, the cold was retreating; he found he could think clearly for the first time in two days.

He scrambled to his feet; his hands grasping the cold wall behind to give him balance. "I see you've finally decided to grace me with your presence," he managed to grind out, not wanting to look weak.

Wyatt gave him an appraising look, "Don't forget, little brother, that I can see right through you." He held Chris' gaze and was inwardly impressed that the younger man didn't look away.

"How've you been enjoying your stay down here? My demons are good at what they do, no?"

Chris laughed bitterly, "Apparently not as good as you hoped though, otherwise no doubt I'd be ready and willing to join your side."

"And you're not?"

Chris shook his head, "No," he replied firmly. "I've already told you, not now, not ever."

Wyatt appeared unconvinced, "We'll see." he replied ominously.

Deciding to forgo the use of magic, Wyatt moved forward and closed the few remaining steps between him and his brother. He grabbed the collar of Chris' shirt, and dragged the witch away from the wall. "How about you tell me about the last time you spoke with our dear father?"

Chris' hands automatically rose and closed around Wyatt wrists in defence. "What?" he asked in confusion, "What does dad have to do with this?"

Wyatt took advantage of his height and pulled Chris upwards so he had to stand on his tiptoes. "Just answer the question."

Chris shrugged mentally, seeing no harm in answering the question, "A few month ago. Why?"

"What did you talk about?"

Chris narrowed his eyes, not seeing the importance of this questioning but not wanting to give anything away, "Nothing to do with you." he replied rudely.

In a sudden movement, Chris was slammed back against the wall, Wyatt's hands still at his throat. "Do I have to tell you again, Christopher? Just answer the damned question!"

"Not until you tell me what's so important about Dad!" retorted Chris hotly, his head throbbing from hitting the wall.

Wyatt dropped his hold on Chris and turned away in annoyance as Chris straightened his shirt, "Nothing's important about Dad, not any more. We were never important to him either. I want information about the Elders."

"If I knew anything I'd hardly be likely to tell you, seeing as you've locked me down here for the past few days!" Chris replied, "And…what did you mean by 'not any more'?"

Wyatt turned to look Chris in the eyes; "I mean that he's not a threat to us or anyone anymore. I made sure of that."

Chris stood shell-shocked as the full meaning of Wyatt's words hit him. "You mean…oh God Wyatt, tell me you didn't…did you…?"

"Did I kill him?" Wyatt finished Chris' sentence, an evil smirk playing across his face, "I wasn't about to let him ruin everything I've worked for, and what did he ever do for me? For you? When was he ever there for us? He would have just held us back. I saw how much it hurt you when Dad missed your birthdays, forgot about every family outing, abandoned you for his charges…I did it for you, Chris. So you could stand by my side, strong and powerful."

"You selfish bastard!" Chris yelled, fury and upset welling up within him. He swung his fist towards Wyatt's face, but his brother ducked easily and his fist only grazed empty air.

Wyatt's eyes narrowed in anger, and he returned the punch, hitting squarely on Chris' cheekbone. Chris staggered back and fell against the wall, ending up in a sprawled heap on the floor at Wyatt's feet.

Chris shifted position and lifted his leg off the floor to kick Wyatt in the back of the knees. Wyatt yelled out in pain as his legs gave way and he fell to his knees beside his brother. In an instant Wyatt reached out a hand and tightened it around Chris' neck, leaving him twisting on the floor and gasping for breath.

Wyatt climbed back to his feet, all the while keeping his hold on Chris' throat, dragging him up too. Wyatt slammed his knee into Chris's stomach and pushed him sprawling across the rough floor. As Chris moaned in pain and gasped for breath simultaneously, Wyatt crouched over him; "I was always able to kick your ass, little brother. Remember that." he hissed, before orbing out.


	15. Speech Preparations

Is it an update?? Is it really an update…? Yep, it is. Hopefully this wait wasn't quite as long as the wait for the last chapter! Nothing _really_ happens in this chapter but it sets up for the next one in a major way, so it is quite important in its own little way. Please R and R! Much love, Autumn x x x

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**Chapter 15: Speech Preparations**

"The days have turned into a week, and the only sound from the city is the deafening sound of silence." The same newsreader as before, still attired in his funeral suit, stared solemnly down the camera.

"Politicians, the police, the army are all at their wits end, and this… this _affair_, has caused the country's economy to be on the brink of collapse. Nothing is known of the fate of the thousands of residents and visitors to San Francisco and the surrounding area has been completely deserted by civilians, many fearing that the impenetrable barriers may spread to swallow up more of the state."

"Family and friends of the missing cannot help but fear that their loved ones may be dead by now and there is still no communication from the believed hostiles to alleviate these fears. Indeed, there has been no indication as to the reason behind the attack, although in a recent statement by outspoken politician…"

A chorus of shouts and a sudden bustle of activity in the area behind him cut off the newsreader. Army soldiers were swarming the area, weapons being primed for use.

"There appears to be something happening..!" the newsreader exclaimed, gesturing for the camera to follow the action, "It looks like… There! Yes! A section of the barrier is no longer there!"

The camera swung back to the newsreader and he narrated in a theatrical whisper, "It appears that there is a break in the barrier, whether due to our sides attempts or due to persons unknown it isn't quite clear. However the army seem to have been taken by surprise…"

A shout from behind the camera was heard, "There's someone standing there!"

A camera hastily zoomed in on the lone figure standing on a podium, between the two shimmering walls of the barrier.

"He's talking! He's making a speech! Hurry, can we get sound?"

The newsreader faced the camera, "Ladies and Gentlemen, this may be what we have been waiting for. Let's listen to what this man has to say…"

---

"This is Sanctuary."

The Elder glared pompously round the circle, as if daring someone to disagree with him.

"It is indeed," a second Elder, called Arthur, remarked dryly, his white hair and baby blue eyes at odds with his sardonic expression, "But is it safe? I think not."

The first Elder, named Mayer, directed a brief glare at the second and drew himself up to his full height. "We have put all our magic into hiding this place, it _is_ safe, I tell you!"

"We put all our magic into protecting the Overworld," Arthur retorted, "And where did that get us?"

"Centuries upon centuries of safety-"

"All destroyed within ten minutes by the work of one man." cut in Arthur, "Safe? We were sitting ducks! It was just that no demon dared to think we would be so foolish as to leave ourselves so blatantly unprotected as that."

Mayer spluttered ineffectively for a moment, before Orion interrupted quietly.

"This is not the time or the place for recriminations." he said with the slightest hint of reproval, "We must decide on a course of action."

"What of the girl, Prudence? And her guardian?" Mayer asked, "How much do we tell her of what we suspect? Can we even _trust_ her? After all she is Wyatt's cousin."

"Remember what we saw." Orion replied, "Wyatt was willing to kill her, I do not think she would join him. Neither her nor Christopher, no matter where he is."

"He's been caught, that's where he is!" exploded Mayer, "Even if he won't join Wyatt, he's useless to us now. How can he fight from a prison cell?"

"May help to have someone on the inside, so to speak." commented Arthur, "If he escapes it will give us valuable information."

Mayer snorted, "And how will we use this information? We have no one to _fight_. How do we expect to beat Wyatt when he has driven the magical world into hiding?"

Orion looked around the circle, a determined glint in his eye. "There are plenty of us. Wyatt did us great damage but we are still a force to be reckoned with. Maybe it's time we started fighting for our own causes instead of directing others to fight for us."

"The fight may happen sooner that we think." Arthur muttered, "Look." He pointed an aged hand towards a large, perfectly circular pool in the centre of the Elders.

The water had started gently rippling and a picture was forming – a tall man, standing commandingly on an impressive podium, poised to start a speech…

---

Prue tapped her pencil thoughtfully against the table and reread the page of the ancient book she was currently flicking her way through.

"That might be useful." she muttered, making a note of the spell on a scrap piece of paper.

The paper was filled with random spells, little rhymes and potion recipes that she figured may come in handy in her rescue mission. In reality though, Prue knew she had no idea of how to pull it off. For a start she didn't even know where Chris was being kept in the City hall – scrying had gotten her so far, but no further.

"Prue?" Sheila called through the door to the library they had found, "It looks like something is happening down there."

"What?" Prue called back distractedly, her eyes scanning the next page of the book.

Sheila poked her head through the doorway, "The Elders seem to be gathered around that funny pool of water…"

Her interest piqued, Prue got up and joined Sheila leaning against the railings surrounding the platform. As she stared at the pool it seemed to become clearer and a shocked gasp from Sheila, told her that it was true for her too. The blurs sharpened into a familiar figure, a familiar figure with dirty blonde hair and piercing blue eyes…

---

In their separate cells in the cellars-turned-dungeons of the City Hall, Chris and Darryl were both disturbed by demons parading up and down the magicked corridors and proclaiming that Lord Wyatt was to make a speech.

Chris groaned, this didn't sound good.

Holographic screens appeared on the walls in front of each cell, it looked as though Wyatt wanted his prisoners to get front row seats.

Chris watched with a feeling of foreboding as his brother carefully and purposely climbed up the podium steps and waved a hand at the shimmering barrier in front of him. A small section vanished giving a view of the confused land before him. Soldier levelled guns at the lone figure, but Wyatt appeared unperturbed, obviously secure in the knowledge of some magic that was in place to protect him.

He opened his mouth and spoke in a powerful, carrying voice…

* * *

Dun, dun, dun...  
I know...its a bit of a cliffie, but you love me for it really!  
Please review on your way out! 


	16. Here I Stand

**Chapter 16: Here I Stand**

**A/N:** Once again, sorry for wait but I decided I really had to focus on exams rather than fanfiction. But exams are over so here is the next chapter of Excalibur. Sorry if the speech sounds a little funny, but I must admit I don't find myself needing to write political speeches very often! Also I think I may have scrounged the last line of the speech from some book as it sounds familiar but I can't remember where, so if you know please drop me a line and I'll point it out in the next authors note. Oh and please leave a review on your way out!

-----

"Here I stand!"

Wyatt's voice boomed out across the expanse to the waiting world and echoed eerily around the terrified city behind him.

"My name, ladies and gentlemen, is Halliwell, Wyatt Halliwell. And I am here to bring you into a new era. An era in which my kind need not hide anymore. An era of magic."

Wyatt paused; he needed to make this sound believable.

"I do not need to be standing in front of you to see the looks of incredulous disbelief on your faces, or to hear you voice your opinions that I am insane, or, indeed, just a 'practical joker'.

"I tell you I am neither.

"I tell you that there is _truly_ magic in this world!"

Wyatt could see the news crews creeping closer, the cameras focusing on his face and he had to fight to keep the smirk off his face. He had the entire world listening to him. The entire world was waiting to see what he said next. It was a power that few could ever honestly say they had held.

He cleared his throat. "There are others like me out there. Other witches, other magical creatures and it is to you that I direct this plea. Spread the word! Come out of your enforced hiding and show the world what you can do. For it is our time and we shall make this a new world!"

"A world of magic!"

Wyatt spread his arms above his head and conjured his force field. The blue light shimmered in the air, distorting his figure, yet shining as bright as the sun. Concentrating, Wyatt extended his arms as far as they would reach and focused on enlarging the sphere. It was an impressive show of magic, but Wyatt wasn't finished yet.

His force field grew until it surrounded the entire city! Onlookers gasped, torn between shock and disbelief. _Was this really happening?_ they asked themselves, _Or was it just some kind of trick?_

To the reporters gathered around the city and to the unlucky citizens trapped within, there was no doubt in their minds. No magician's trick, however talented the magician, could have created that. The power sparking off from the bubble could be felt a good few miles away, and the air became hot and still.

Wyatt suddenly clenched both his fists and convulsively brought his arms down to his sides. The force field disappeared instantly and Wyatt raised his face, eyes bright and glinting power, to look directly at the cameras.

"I say something else now." his voice boomed into the shocked silence, "And I say this as a warning, although not intended to incite violence. Do not try to attack me. What you saw, what I did, was indeed a benevolent piece of magic. But, and listen carefully to this, how quickly can your open hand of peace change into a clenched fist ready to hit? Magic is no different from the rest of human nature. Do not for a second think that I am defenceless. If you choose to attack I will not be responsible for any losses or damage you may encounter. I have told you nothing but the truth and it is up to you to listen and take heed."

A definite chill settled over the crowd watching, the energy from the force field chased away by something much more sinister.

"Change is always necessary to prevent our race from faltering and failing." continued Wyatt, "Last time magic was allowed to roam free, the world was too close minded to allow it to flourish and many innocent people, both witches and not, suffered greatly. I tell you I will not allow any witch burnings under my rule.

"I am nearing the end of my speech. I have no doubt that many of you have unanswered questions, doubts, and even disbeliefs. If someone will step forward at the end I will arrange a conference with your President and it shall be up to him to decide what information to give you."

Wyatt raised a clenched fist into the air, "A world of magic I have promised you, and a world of magic I will give you."

"Here I stand. And here I shall remain."

------

Wyatt was a good speech giver, Chris admitted to himself, albeit reluctantly. He'd got his point across admirably – 'don't mess with me, or else…' – but had placed the emphasis on talk of a new world so the less insightful among his audience would, likely as not, miss the menace behind his words.

The holographic screen facing Chris' cell, flickered and died, leaving only the dull illumination of the corridor's lone lightbulb.

He sighed and drew his knees up to his chest. 'Wonder when Wyatt will come back to talk to me.' he though bitterly, trying to decide if he would prefer that to being left alone in the dim and dismal room passing as his cell.

He ached from bruises left by his fight with Wyatt, but he refused to let his mind dwell on Wyatt's proclamation that he had killed their father. Leo hadn't been much of a dad, least of all to him, but family was still family and Chris was aware that he was hurting.

"I have an audience with the President of the United States." a horribly familiar voice rang out, disturbing the silence.

Chris looked up as Wyatt drew closer; "Well, to be fair, it's more like _he_ has been granted an audience with _me_." Wyatt continued smugly, taking no notice of Chris' dark looks.

"Are you sure you won't join me?"

Chris remained silent, scowling furiously. He knew it was childish to ignore his brother, but right now he didn't care.

"Christopher?" Wyatt's voice sounded commanding now.

Fixing his gaze on a damp part of the wall, Chris mutinously kept his mouth closed and fists tightly clenched.

"You could be there, right beside me. Ruling at my side." Wyatt curled his fingers around the metal bars and Chris could feel Wyatt's piercing gaze never leaving his back.

Wyatt sighed in exasperation. "Fine. Be like that, then."

A brief expression of amusement flittered across Chris' face, despite the circumstances. If only the world could see their fearsome would-be leader now – in a childish mood simply because his younger brother wouldn't talk to him.

Wyatt's face twisted in a scowl directed at his brother, as it had done so often in the past. "I hope you change your mind soon, Chris. I won't wait for ever."

Chris turned to watch the stream of orbs dissipate and sighed himself. "But you will, Wyatt." he murmured sadly, "You'll wait for me to turn evil as long I will wait for you to turn good again.

"And I'm never going to give up."


	17. Unstoppable Demands

Look at how quickly I've updated! Isn't everyone amazed? See this is what happens when you get the combination of the summer holidays (with no work to do) and lots of lovely reviews from your readers (thank you all!). Oh and I'm sure I've read some book where the President is called Mr. President instead of by his name, but being English and not American I could be wrong and if so just ignore it! Anyhoo, hope you all like the next instalment of 'Excalibur'…(I'm sure the sword will actually appear at some point, I promise!)  
Much Love, Autumn x x x x

* * *

**Chapter 17: Unstoppable demands**

"That pompous little git!" seethed Prue, directing a murderous glare down at the seeing pool. "Thinks he's all that, does he? Mr. bloody high and mighty!"

Sheila reached out a restraining hand, "Prue…" she began.

But Prue shook off her hand and clambered to her feet, all the while muttering venomously to herself. "Wyatt bloody Halliwell, heir of Excalibur and complete effing ba-"

"Prue!" Despite the circumstances Sheila felt her motherly instinct rise, "There will be none of that language, thank you very much!"

The teenager had the grace to look slightly abashed, before settling her face into a heavy scowl. "I'm so going to kick his arse when I next see him." she announced, "When I rescue Chris and Uncle Darryl from right under his nose, then we'll see who's so bloody fantastic then, shall we?"

Sheila cast a glance down at the Elders down below, milling about in an unorderly fashion, their outraged tones clearly audible from the pair's position, numerous floors above. "What about the Elders? Have you asked them for help? Maybe they can do something."

Shaking her head, Prue replied, "No. They wont be any help, trust me." Noticing Sheila's slightly reproachful gaze Prue carried on, "I mean, yeah they saved us, and I'm grateful for that, really. It's just they're not very good at the whole fighting part of things. That's left down to us witches."

"But you can't go on your own! It'd be suicide. They'd catch you!" Sheila's face was clearly worried.

"No they won't." Prue assured her, "I have a plan." _I only hope it works_, she added silently.

"Well, can _I_ help?" persisted Sheila, still unwilling to let Prue make a solo rescue attempt.

Prue started to shake her head before swiftly changing her mind, "Actually, yeah. You can tell me if you think my disguise will cut it."

"Disguise?"

"Yep!" Prue's mouth curved into a smirk that was eerily reminiscent of Wyatt, "Chris tried the sneaking in option, and that obviously didn't work, so I'm going to go for the opposite. If there's no way of getting in without Wyatt's demons knowing, then I'm going to make sure they do know I'm there."

Prue suppressed a laugh at Sheila's gob smacked expression before carrying on, "Only, I won't _be_ me. I'll be the one person who will be able to get anywhere without being questioned. That is, Wyatt."

Sheila frowned, "You mean- But how?"

Prue stretched out a hand to Sheila, "We need to take a trek back to our house. We do still have some of Wyatt's stuff there, don't we?"

Nodding Sheila replied, "Yeah, we have some boxes up in the attic."

"Well then, if we can find something of him, like a hair or whatever, then I found the recipe for this potion that will let me bypass any protective spells he's got surrounding himself. And then, with a nifty little spell, I can become the one and only Wyatt Halliwell!"

The pair vanished in a swirl of orbs, leaving the crowd of Elders still arguing furiously below them.

-----

In a place that was as dull and gloomy as the Elders sanctuary was bright and gentle, the sound of industrious sawing was the only thing breaking the heavy silence that hung over the dungeon that Chris was currently residing in.

Chris drew the loose rock backwards and forwards over the metal circlet that was encasing his ankle and preventing him from using any form of magic.

If he squinted hard in the near blackness, Chris thought he could possibly see the start of a shallow scratch, but running his fingers over the band all he felt was the cold smoothness of the metal. He sighed. It wasn't working.

"Surprise, surprise." Chris muttered, giving the anklet a few sharp blows with the rock, more out of frustration than anything else.

He threw the rock against the opposite wall and watched moodily as it clattered onto the floor, the sound quickly swallowed by the oppressing nothingness that seemed to surround the cell.

'Wonder how Wyatt's meeting is going,' Chris thought bitterly as his mind wandered to his brother, no doubt sitting four floors above in the majestic conference room that had once been the envy of many visiting councillors…

-----

"This country will never bow down to terrorists!" The President of the United States banged his fist against the sleek wood of the table with an elaborate gesture. He was red faced with righteous anger and had abandoned his chair to stand glaring over Wyatt.

Wyatt flicked his clear blue eyes upwards for a moment before rising gracefully to his feet as well, his six foot two frame easily dwarfing the President's shorter stature. "I am not a terrorist." He spoke the words in a tone that brooked no argument. "No non-magical people have been deliberately hurt in my take-over, and neither will they be under my rule. Additionally, at no point since this coup began have I, or my soldiers, for lack of a better word, pretended to be civilians in order to fight undetected."

A few white lies never hurt anyone, Wyatt mused.

"You! You…" The President spluttered incoherently for a moment before gaining control of his rage, "You have come here, attacked my country, killed my people, (for whether they were, as you label them, witches or magical folk they were still Americans) and yet you have the nerve to stand there and name your terms! You will never rule this country, Halliwell and your days of having captured San Francisco are numbered."

"Wrong." Wyatt put all the coldness in his voice that he could muster, "My days here are numbered? How so? Two days since I first took over and the only people who have managed to even get in to the city has been yourself and your aides, and that at my express command. The barrier is impenetrable and, if need be, my own force field can make it doubly so, as my demonstration yesterday proved.

"I have made my demands, and you are in no place to refuse. Give me California."

The President narrowed his eyes and sent a glare that would have left a lesser opponent running for his life. "You are insane!" he roared, "One does not simply 'give' away a state, even if I had any intention of acceding to your ridiculous demand."

Wyatt leaned forward over the table, "It does not matter what you _intend_ or naively believe you _can_ do. I will get California, by force if necessary, and there is nothing you can do to stop me. It is simply a matter of whether you prefer to make the transition as smooth as possible with few, if any, lives lost, or if you prefer to start a war that you simply cannot win."

"The United States army is the best in the world!" the President proclaimed with his traditional fierce patriotism, "And being backed up by the combined UN armies makes it, if I may be so bold as to borrow your phrase, doubly so."

"Be that as it may, no army in this world has met a group of demon on a battlefield, have they." Wyatt commented dryly, "Kezlar, come forward." This directed at his second in command.

"Yes, sire." Kezlar's gravely voice boomed as he stepped up to the table, muscles bulging.

Wyatt waved an airy hand, "This is Kezlar. A brute demon. Not only do bullets only serve to annoy him, he would easily snap the gun in half without breaking a sweat and then do the same to the neck of the person holding the gun. And bear in mind that he could do the same to those considerably larger guns you mount on your army's tanks. Tell me, Mr. President, how can your soldiers expect to beat an army of these demons?"

The President was silent for a moment, digesting the obvious truth in Wyatt's words. "Be that as it may," he retorted eventually, "I assure you the American people would rather die fighting than die under the rule of a tyrannical maniac."

Wyatt snorted, "Would they? Really? I think you'll find that the majority of people will place a high importance on the safety of their own skins."

"We shall see." The President's argument was empty, both men knew. Wyatt held all the cards…

"So you reject my request?" Wyatt clarified.

The President nodded firmly, "Absolutely. I will concede nothing to you willingly."

"Well then," Wyatt smirked, "I shall take it by force. And never forget, that any blood spilled will be staining your hands."

"The average person listening to your speech has the impression that you only plan to use violence if it is first used against you." The protest was delivered with a grim voice.

This made Wyatt laugh out loud. "My dear President, if I had made an honest speech then I would have been the first politician in history to do so." Still smirking he turned to Kezlar, "I believe the President is done here. Show him out."

The President turned to go, paused, then gave a final parting shot, "You haven't won Halliwell. So don't get too cocky."

Wyatt took a step forward, emanating menace. "Don't mistake me for anything except what I am." he snarled, "Dangerous and powerful."

He spun swiftly on his heel and marched toward the other exit. "Show him out." he demanded of Kezlar again. As the heavy mahogany door swung shut behind him, he could hear Kezlar's sneering voice "Right this way Mr President, _sir_."

'There is nothing that can stop me,' Wyatt promised himself, 'I am unstoppable, and the sooner people realise that, the better.'


	18. The Double Rescue

Hello...I'm almost too embarrassed to post this chapter as it's been soooo long since the last one and no matter how much I promise the next chapter will be up shortly it never seems to happen! So I'm sorry. Very sorry. Please keep reading! I haven't abandoned this story – it is planned out to the very end so keep a look out for the next chapter as it's very exciting! There's very little Wyatt in this chapter but I promise in the next chapter there will be more Wyatt and Chris interactions and Excalibur stabs someone... At least according to the plan that is!

Anyway I have included a short summary of the previous chapters in case it's been too long and you've all forgotten what happened! If you have an amazing memory (if you do then I will be very jealous) then just scroll down and start reading at **Chapter 18: the Double Rescue** (and I hope you get the pun otherwise the title won't make much sense as I had to cut the chapter off earlier than I planned!)

Enjoy. Autumn-371

* * *

**Chap 1 Summary:** Chris has a dream of Wyatt killing him with Excalibur, while down in the Underworld, Wyatt holds a meeting with his inner circle of demons. Although separated, Chris and Wyatt both think of each other.

**Chap 2 Summary:** Demon attacks are on the increase in SF, and Chris is helping Darryl to prevent the murders. Meanwhile Wyatt looks in the BOS for a solution to his problem with Chris and Prue has dream of Wyatt killing her with Excalibur.

**Chap 3**** Summary**Chris searches Magic School Library for information on the demon attacks and realises that they are a result of a new source. He orbs to the Underworld and overhears Wyatt ordering an attack on San Francisco.

**Chap 4**** Summary**The attack on San Francisco has begun. Demons and Darklighters are combining forces to kill as many witches as possible and Chris is called back from the Underworld by Prue and Sheila. Leo issues an order to the Whitelighters telling them to stay in the Overworld for protection instead of helping their charges.

**Chap 5**** Summary** Rumours are rife about the force behind the murders and Chris and Prue decide they need a plan to stop Wyatt. Wyatt orbs up to the Overworld and comes face-to-face with his Father, Leo.

**Chap 6**** Summary**Chris and Prue decide they need to bind Wyatt's powers, however they will need the BOS to do that. Wyatt commits the unspeakable act of killing his own father.

**Chap 7**** Summary** At the police station, Darryl is coming under fire from his superiors about the attacks. Wyatt orders the demon Dracnis to lead the forces for a take-over of the City Hall. The Police station is attacked while Darryl is on the phone to Chris.

**Chap 8**** Summary**Chris and Prue arrive in the aftermath of the attack at the Police Department and find Darryl missing and many of the police dead. Wyatt is in control of City Hall and has captured Darryl. Meanwhile news reports have picked up on the attack and Chris, Prue and Sheila watch the TV in dread as it is revealed that the city has been barricaded by magical barriers and magic has been exposed.

**Chap 9**** Summary**Wyatt has a meeting with Darryl and boasts about his take-over of San Francisco. He is impressed by one of Daryl's captors, a demon named Kezlar, and orders him to kill Dracnis. Chris sends Prue home to protect Sheila and attempts to enter the City Hall to spy on Wyatt. However he is seen and Kezlar is ordered to take a team to capture Chris and take him to Wyatt.

**Chap 10**** Summary** An Elder arrives to take Prue and Sheila to 'Sanctuary' to hide them as an angry Wyatt demands Darryl tells him where the two are hidden. Chris fights with the demons but is eventually captured.

**Chap 11**** Summary** Orion, the Elder, shows Prue and Sheila around Sanctuary and tells them of Leo's death. Darryl refuses to tell Wyatt any information and is sent back to his cell just as Chris is taken inside City Hall and also put in a cell to await Wyatt's summons.

**Chap 12**** Summary** Chris has another dream of his death by Excalibur, but is awoken and taken to see Wyatt. Chris is unable to use magic due to an anklet Wyatt had invented that prevents it's wearer from performing magic. Prue watches a news report stating that the outside world cannot contact the city or its inhabitants, while wondering if Chris has been captured or killed.

**Chap 13**** Summary** Wyatt and Chris argue. Both try to get the other to see their view point but are unsuccessful. The meeting ends in Chris being sent back to his cell.

**Chap 14**** Summary** Wyatt uses a form of magic to attempt to psychologically brainwash Chris into changing sides, but Chris is strong enough to resist the spell. Kezlar is ordered to find Prue and Sheila by hunting down the Elders, while in Sanctuary Prue comes to the decision that she must make a rescue attempt. Wyatt questions Chris about Leo, and lets slip that he killed their father. Chris attacks Wyatt, but without magic is easily overpowered.

**Chap 15**** Summary** Wyatt prepares to make a speech to the world in front of the news cameras. Screens appear in Chris and Darryl's cells so they are able to watch Wyatt's speech, and in Sanctuary, the meeting of Elders' is interrupted by the sight of Wyatt in a magical seeing pool.

**Chap 16**** Summary** Wyatt's speech exposes magic and he declares that it is his intention to create a new world in which magic flourishes freely. Wyatt arranges a meeting with the President of the United States and Chris once again refuses to join Wyatt.

**Chap 17**** Summary** Prue discloses to Sheila that she has come up with a plan to rescue Chris and Darryl and the two head off to Darryl and Sheila's home to get some vital ingredients. Meanwhile, Wyatt meets with the President and makes his demand: he wants California. The President refuses and Wyatt promises to take it by force, declaring himself unstoppable.

* * *

**Chapter 18**

A brief burst of light illuminated the Morris' attic as Prue and Sheila materialised. Cardboard boxes were stacked haphazardly in the dusty corners, surrounded by pieces of old or broken furniture, but it was the cauldron and potions ingredients scattered around that struck a jarring note.

Prue stepped over to the sluggishly bubbling potion congealing in the blackened pot and wrinkled her nose, "Ooops, I forgot we were making this."

Sheila peered down at the murky concoction and asked, "What is it?"

"It's an invisibility potion." the teenager replied, "Chris and I were going to use it to stea..., _retrieve_ the Book of Shadows back from Wyatt." She reached for a nearby wooden spoon and tentatively started stirring the potion, which reluctantly swirled into a darkened whirlpool.

"Yeah, I think I should maybe make it again." she decided, watching the liquid gloop off the spoon and back into the cauldron with a plop, "It can help me get into City Hall without anyone noticing. After all, I daren't risk walking straight in through the front door when I have no idea where Wyatt is."

Sheila nodded in agreement, "You have to be careful," she told Prue concernedly, "Otherwise someone will notice that there are two Wyatt's about. And I don't want you getting caught either."

"Don't worry, I won't!" chirped Prue, forcing some optimism into her voice, "Now, what do we have that belongs to Wyatt?"

"Oh, ummm..." Sheila wandered over to a teetering pile of dusty cardboard boxes and began rummaging through them. "How about these?" she asked, holding up an old pair of jeans and a few plain t-shirts.

Prue frowned, "Will they have been washed?"

"I should jolly well hope so!" the older women made herself laugh, "But, oh, I see what you mean. There won't be anything of Wyatt on them if they're clean."

Prue shook her head dejectedly, "Nope."

"Ok, so what else have we got..." Sheila flipped open the top of another box and broke into a true grin, "Will this work?" she asked holding up a faded teddy, its sandy face lumpy and misshapen.

"It's Wyatt's old teddy!" Prue exclaimed, "He loved this thing! It'll work perfectly."

"Right." Sheila said, determined to get her family back together as soon as possible, "Let's get started. What can I do to help?"

With a flourish, Prue pulled a piece of paper from her pocket, "Here's a list of all the ingredients we need. I think it's safer if we make the potions in Sanctuary. This'll probably be the first place Wyatt will look for us, if he hasn't already."

Prue paused, noticing a flicker of worry pass across her guardian's face. "Auntie Sheila..."

"Oh, it's nothing. I'm fine." Sheila quickly replied, "It's just..." here, she sighed and turned away, blinking back the tears which had suddenly sprung to her eyes, "...it's hard, you know? Remembering Wyatt as this sweet little boy who I used to babysit, who used to play with Darryl Jr. before, well, before the attack. And now, now he's ruthlessly attacking everyone, he's captured my husband, and not to mention Chris too. And Chris's as good as a nephew, or...or a godson, or, well family at any rate.

"And now he's after us too." she finished, "And you're about to go after him, and what if you get caught too? You're my responsibility, I'm supposed to look after you, keep you safe...and I'm just about to let you go straight to him!"

Prue walked up to her and wrapped her arms around the older woman. "I know," she said, "Wyatt's my cousin, for god's sake, and I'm talking about him like he's just another demon! But...it's the only way I know how to cope with this. Because I know, if I think of the boy who used to give me piggybacks and tease me mercilessly, then I won't be able to do this. And I have to. I have to get Chris and Uncle Darryl back, and I'm the one who has to do it.

"I know you're worried. To be honest I'm more than slightly worried too! But even if something does happen to me, which it won't, it still wouldn't be your fault. After all, if you and Uncle Darryl hadn't taken care of us after the attack then maybe we would have been turned by Wyatt, maybe we would have followed him blindly, simply because we would have had no-one else."

Sheila hugged Prue back, "No you wouldn't." she assured her, smoothing back Prue's hair, "You have a heart of gold, and so does Chris. You would never have followed Wyatt, never have done the things that he's done."

Prue pulled back and gave her a watery smile, "Yeah..."

"Let's get these ingredients then, shall we?" Sheila shook her head to clear it, and managed a reassuring smile.

-------

Later, at Sanctuary, Prue stepped back from the table as a small explosion rocketed a cloud of sparkling steam towards the ceiling.

"Potion's done!" she sang out, capturing Sheila's attention, from where the older woman had been staring, mesmerised, at the artificial clouds dancing along the cavern's roof.

Sheila hurriedly rushed over, "Are you sure?" she asked anxiously.

"Yep." replied Prue, reaching for a ladle to spoon the blue-grey liquid into a glass. "I just have to drink this, cast the spell to make me look like Wyatt, and ta-dah!"

"And you've got the spell ready?"

Prue nodded reassuringly, "It's right here. Might not be a literary work of art but hey, it should work."

"Well okay then," Sheila peered doubtfully at the potion, steaming slightly in the glass, "When do you think...?"

"Right now." Prue decided forcefully, "There's no point waiting, and the sooner we get them back, the better." She picked up the glass and tipped back her head to take a gulp of the potion. "Hmmmm," she muttered thoughfully, "It just tastes like water."

Sheila studied her charge as if expecting a visible change, "Do you feel alright? Has it worked?"

"Well," replied Prue slightly apprehensively, "There's only one way to find out."

She cleared her throat and recited:

_"__Away from danger, in this safe place;_

_Wyatt's appearance I shall embrace.__"_

Swirling lights engulfed Prue and when they receded it was Wyatt standing there, his dirty blonde hair hanging in loose curls, skimming broad shoulders.

"Prue?" Sheila asked hesitantly, unable to stop herself from double checking.

"Yeah it's me," the high pitched and undoubtedly feminine voice issued incongruously from the thin lips.

Prue blinked, heavy lids closing smoothly over blue eyes, then helplessly let out a small giggle. "Ooops." She snorted, "I guess I didn't word the spell specifically enough to give me Wyatt's voice box too!"

"Is that a problem? Can you fake it?"

Prue coughed, and spoke in a deep voice, "Is this better?"

Sheila nodded reluctantly and Prue continued in her normal voice, "It shouldn't matter too much. I'm assuming Wyatt doesn't stand around chatting to his minions and no doubt he's got them too scared to question him if he happens to sound a little strange."

"When are you going?"

Prue tapped her now much larger foot decisively. "Right now. We can't leave them there for any longer than we have to."

"Just..." Sheila's voice broke, "...be careful. Please Prue, be careful."

-----

In the city hall of San Francisco a keening wail was echoing throughout the sweeping corridors and penetrating even the heaviest mahogany doors.

Prue, straightening her six foot two frame so as to look as imposing as possible, strode down the (luckily empty) corridor she had recently appeared in and headed towards the main centre of frantic instructions and barking shouts that interspersed the alarm.

"Milord!" gasped one demon, bowing low, terror evident both his voice and shaking figure.

More followed suit, until the entire space was filled with frozen demons, each looking terrified to be in the presence of the person they believed was Lord Wyatt.

Prue arched an eyebrow menacingly and glared around the room. She was hoping desperately that some demon would volunteer the information she needed without her having to risk exposure by speaking.

Her luck held. A gigantic brute demon headed towards her, snarling at the others to get back to investigating what had set off the alarm.

"My Lord," he growled, "We are instigating a search of the entire building to find the cause of the alarm. Rest assured, if anyone has forced entry then we shall find them, and quickly."

"Good." Prue barked shortly, "The prisoners?"

An approximation of a quizzical face almost floated over the brute demon's face, no doubt at 'Wyatt's' abrupt speech, before he remembered himself and forced it into a more neutral expression.

"Extra guards are being sent to the dungeons right now, my Lord. If this is a rescue attempt then the intruders will not get to the prisoners in one piece."

Prue noticed with disgust the excited gleam that lit the eyes of the demon at the mere thought of blood and fighting.

"And Chris?" she asked, hoping for a more precise location.

The demon obliged. "The lower cellars are impossible to enter undetected, of course my Lord. They are, after all, _your_ spells protecting the area. Your brother and the cop will be staying put."

'Oh really?' Prue giggled in her head, 'I beg to differ.'

She nodded abruptly and strode off without another word towards the nearest staircase. "Right then," she muttered, "The lower cellars aka the dungeons. Chris, Uncle Darryl, here I come!"

Prue headed down the flight of stairs, ending up on the ground floor near the back of the building, She cast her gaze inconspicuously around her, trying not to show any triumph as her eyes alighted on a plain door flanked by two pairs of demon guards.

'That must be it!' she thought, 'It looks as likely an entrance to the cellars as anything else, and above all its guarded pretty heavily.'

She walked over to the door, the demons making no move to stop her. In fact, one even pushed the door open, the others bowing their heads respectfully.

Upon entering through the door, Prue found herself confronted by a number of passages. The entire area felt dark and dank and had the appearance more of the Underworld than the cellars of the city hall. Magic had obviously played a part in creating these dungeons.

Looking around, she noticed only the one passage that sloped downwards. Heading towards it she whispered, "Hold on, Chris. I'm coming."

-----

Chris was half-sitting, half-lying down, with his back resting uncomfortably against the cold stone of his cell wall. His eyes were half open and he was staring mesmerised at the flickering flame of the candle attached to the roughly hewn wall on the other side of the bars. Chris had never realised how incredibly _boring_ being a prisoner could be.

"Give me anything to break the monotony." he muttered vaguely.

Almost as soon as the thought had reached his mind, footsteps began echoing down the passage, and he found himself wishing that it was Wyatt. A good argument would ease his boredom considerably and give him something to stew over in his mind for a while afterwards.

"Chris?" a voice barked gruffly, more like a cough than a shout.

Chris sat up intrigued, that wasn't Wyatt's voice. He approached the bars of his cell and pressed his face against the cool metal, eyes straining in the gloom.

"Chris!" a second voice exclaimed happily upon seeing him.

The teen in question, watched incredulously as someone who appeared to be Wyatt rushed up to his cell and curled their hands around the bars, almost jumping in excitement.

"I found you!" The voice, unmistakeably Prue's, combined with Wyatt's unlikely actions make two and two quickly slot together to make four in Chris' mind.

He smiled in relief, "Prue?"

"Uh-huh." An uncharacteristic smile lit up Wyatt's face. "And look what I have." she grinned, jangling a set of keys under Chris' nose.

"Prue you are a genius." Chris exclaimed fervently, "How on earth...?"

"Well," Prue swiftly started slotting keys into the lock while she was talking, "Seeing as I look remarkably like a certain someone who is calling himself Lord and Master these days, I simply asked the demon guard nicely and there you go. Ta dah!" she added as a soft click signalled Chris' freedom.

Chris swung the door open and stepped into the corridor, enveloping his younger cousin in a swift hug. "Thank you." he whispered.

Prue was the first to break away, "Come on," she instructed, "We have to get to Uncle Darryl too, and I have no idea how long we've got until someone finds out there are _two_ Wyatt's about."


	19. Swords and Stones

**A/N: **I think maybe this update is a little quicker than usual...maybe? Or maybe not. I'm not really sure but I'd like to think it is! Anyway... as promised hopefully this chapter is a little more exciting than the last and Chris features prominantly. So here we go...

much love.

* * *

**Chapter 19**

"How long are you going to stay looking like that?" Chris questioned Prue, as they carefully made their way through the darkened passage in search of Darryl.

Prue shrugged, "Until I say the counter spe... ooops!"

"What?" Chris looked at his younger cousin speculatively.

Prue had stopped suddenly and slapped herself on the forehead. "Damn, I knew I was forgetting something! I didn't _write_ a counter spell."

Chris rolled his eyes. "Somehow I'm not surprised," he muttered dryly, "Never mind, we can make one up later. Are you sure the guard said Darryl was down here?"

"Uh-huh" Prue nodded, "I think he was keeping you two separate, from everyone else _and_ each other. It should be just here."

They had arrived at the end of the passage, where a small cell had been partitioned off by metal bars. As they neared the bars, they exchanged apprehensive glances then turned their gazes to the huddled shape lying on the floor.

"Darryl?" Chris asked tentatively, "Darryl, are you ok?"

The figure twitched, then slowly pulled himself up to face the teens, disbelief etched onto his bloody features, "Chris? Wyatt?" he rasped, "Wh-Wha-? I mean, How? I don't.." His eyes flickered between Chris and who he supposed was Wyatt.

"I'm not Wyatt." Prue explained, "It's me!"

"P-Prue?" Darryl was looking thoroughly confused now.

"What did he _do_ to you?" Prue exclaimed indignantly in reply, her eyes focusing on Darryl's injuries.

Darryl appeared to gather some composure as he dragged himself to his feet, "It wasn't Wyatt," he told them grimly, "It was his demons when they captured me."

"Never mind that now," Chris interrupted hurriedly, "We have to get out of here, as quickly as possible. Prue, unlock the door."

Prue moved forward to comply, twisting the key in the lock and pulling the door open. Chris stepped inside and grasped Darryl's arm, "Can you walk?"

"I'll be fine." Darryl assured the teens, though his grimace as he took a tentative step gave him away.

"Come on," Chris told him, pulling Darryl's arm around his shoulder, "I'll help you."

Prue was scrunching her face up in heavy concentration as Chris helped Darryl exit the cell. "I can't teleport down here." she announced, "Can you orb?"

Chris shook his head and his eyes widened in sudden remembrance, "No, Wyatt put this anklet thingy on me so I can't use my magic." He pulled up his trouser leg to show the other two. "I can't get it off."

Prue looked worried, "I can't teleport anyone else! How are we going to get out of here?"

"Walk out the door?" Darryl suggested calmly.

"Won't they, oh I don't know, be _watching_ the entrance?!" Chris suggested sardonically.

Darryl let out a brief laugh, "I'm not a cop for nothing, you know. Prue looks like Wyatt right now, so why can't she order the demons to go elsewhere, leaving the door unguarded? We'd only need a minute or so."

"Yeah!" exclaimed Prue, "And when we're outside, you two can hide for a moment while I teleport to sanctuary and get a whitelighter to come back for you."

"Sanctuary?" the two men asked simultaneously.

"It's where the remaining Elders and Whitelighters are hiding. There's not that many of them left now, but..."

"Sheila?" Darryl rasped hopefully, his eyes lighting up.

"Yeah, yeah she's there. Auntie Sheila's safe. But..." Prue trailed off.

"Dad." Chris said dully into the silence. "I know he's dead. Wyatt told me he killed him."

Darryl looked shocked but patted Chris on the shoulder comfortingly, "I'm so sorry, Chris."

There was another brief silence.

"Shall...Shall we get out of here now?" Prue asked nervously.

Chris frowned, "It sounds too easy." he muttered.

"What do we have to lose?" Darryl asked Chris gently, "If we get caught again, well, we were prisoners before, and Prue will teleport out if we get caught won't you?"

"I will?" Prue looked shocked, "No, no I won't leave you here."

"Yes you will." Chris backed up Darryl, "There's no point Wyatt having three of us if one of us can get away."

Prue looked indignant, "But- but _you _wouldn't leave if it was you!"

"Prudence Melinda Halliwell, we don't have time for arguments. If we get caught, teleport out. Understand?" Chris fixed his cousin with a steady gaze.

She nodded reluctantly. "Fine. Let's go."

They made their way as fast as they could through the passages back up to the entrance hall. There were a few close shaves with the demonic guards, but Prue, pretending to be Wyatt, managed to allay their suspicions and the three were allowed to pass.

Eventually they reached the door leading to the entrance hall, and they all paused apprehensively.

"Right, well," Prue announced, squaring her shoulders, "I guess I should go on ahead and make sure the coast is clear."

"Be careful." Chris warned, not looking particularly happy about sending Prue out there alone.

"You know me." Prue grinned, "Always the careful one."

Chris snorted, "Yeah, that's why I'm worried."

"Good luck," Darryl whispered, "Knock when it's all clear."

"Will do."

Prue tentatively reached for the handle, then with a burst of confidence pulled it open and strode through quickly. She didn't look up until she heard the door click behind her, and when she raised her head she found herself face-to-face with a very confused looking demon.

"Uh, excuse me!" Prue demanded haughtily.

The demon stepped aside quickly but sent a clearly befuddled glance at the other end of the lobby. "My- my Lord?" he stuttered, head swinging wildly from one side to the other.

Prue directed Wyatt's clear blue eyes to follow the demon's gaze and found herself staring straight at a pair of identical eyes. She felt her stomach drop down to her knees as the man strode over to her, a smug grin plastered on his face.

"Well, well, well." Wyatt sneered, "This must be my mysterious double."

---

Prue felt her head spinning, "Uh-" She felt like an idiot. Why hadn't they considered the possibility that they might come face-to-face with Wyatt himself?

Wyatt was now observing Prue with a predatory grin, "Now, I'm guessing you are none other than my favourite cousin. Am I right Prudence?"

Taking a wild chance Prue retorted, "What are you talking about, imposter? I don't know who the hell you are but _I'm_ Wyatt Halliwell."

Wyatt snorted with laughter, "Let's stop playing games shall we? That's not even a very good impression of my voice, although I will admit that you were clever to bypass the protection spells I set up around myself."

He made a commanding gesture with his hand and immediately all the demons powered up energy balls. Stalking closer he continued, "I think I can make another guess here, that Chris and Darryl are hiding behind that door waiting for you to tell them to come out?"

Prue gulped. "No. They're not." she insisted, although she could hear how weak her lie sounded.

"Really? So if I, say, tell Kezlar here," Wyatt pointed to a heavyset brute demon, "to open the door, he won't find them? Do it." he added to Kezlar, the brute demon snarling in what was probably excitement.

Prue watched in dread as the door swung open, revealing the two men. Identical expressions of shock were quickly replaced by steely determination.

"Hello, brother." Wyatt sneered, "Looks like your escape plan's been foiled."

Chris stepped forward, eyes narrowed, "I'd say that if your security is lax enough to let us get this far, then we've still got a fighting chance."

Wyatt's nostrils flared in anger. "You think so? Well, let me just remove your ace then. Let me see." He turned to face Prue and though briefly, "How about:

_The face she is wearing is not her own,_

_Her __original__ looks give to the clone."_

Prue felt her features returning as white orbs danced around her. She felt more than a little ridiculous as Wyatt' clothes were now way too large for her.

"There we go," Wyatt surveyed the results, satisfied with his work, "Hello, Prue. It's nice to see you."

"I wish I could say the same," she spat.

Rolling his eyes, Wyatt turned to his demons, "Return these two to their cells. I think I'll have a nice little chat to Prue about where all the Elders are hiding these days."

Chris took an angry step forward, ignoring the demons who closed in around him raising their energy balls threateningly. "Leave Prue alone." he demanded, sending her a glance that clearly told her to teleport out.

"And get out of my way." he snarled at the demon in front of him.

The demon growled in anger, bringing the rotating ball of energy close to Chris' face. Suddenly the energy ball left the demon's hand and flew straight back at him, vanquishing the demon in a puff of ash.

Chris looked up and met Prue's eye, her arm outstretched, having just used their shared power of telekinesis to move the energy ball.

Wyatt also spun round to glare at Prue. "How dare you." he hissed, advancing on the teen.

Recognising the danger signs, Chris dodged the demons surrounding him and leapt at Wyatt, bringing the two down in an untidy jumble of flailing limbs.

Using telekinesis Wyatt waved a hand to send Chris flying across the room, but not before the younger man had landed a solid punch to Wyatt's jaw.

All thoughts of Prue gone, Wyatt summoned Excalibur and advanced towards Chris who had scrambled to his feet. "Don't start a fight you couldn't possible win." he snarled.

Chris eyed the gleaming blade and sidestepped the blow. The sword cut cleanly through the air and Chris felt the rush of air as it passed. Finding himself within striking distance of Wyatt he straightened a leg and sent a roundhouse kick to Wyatt's stomach. The blonde stumbled but didn't fall.

Before Chris knew what was happening he felt the ice cold steel resting at his throat. Wyatt had moved almost inhumanly fast.

Chris could see barely restrained anger in his brother's face. But Wyatt removed Excalibur and directed his speech at Kezlar. "Teach him a lesson."

Kezlar grunted appreciatively and stepped forward hungrily as Wyatt turned away.

"Face me." Chris demanded to his brother's retreating back. "Face me yourself."

Wyatt had stopped walking so Chris continued, "Remove this damn ankle thing and face me in a fair fight. Unless you're afraid to lose, of course."

A maniacal laugh sounded from Wyatt's lips. "Afraid, my dear brother? Of you? I should think not." Wyatt made an abrupt hand gesture at Chris' leg and he felt the metallic band snap and fall to the floor.

'Finally! I can use my powers' Chris thought sending a telekinetic stream of power at Wyatt.

The blonde flew backwards hitting the floor and skidding backwards a few metres. He came back up spitting fire and swinging the historic blade in arcs that Chris was hard put to avoid. Suddenly, Excalibur flashed towards Chris's face. Too surprised to do anything else he flung his arm up in front of his face and hissed in pain as the slick blade sliced into his arm.

In the background Chris could hear Darryl's angry shout, and Prue's shocked gasp. Focusing on the battle he pushed his uninjured hand in front of him mentally blasted the area.

Wyatt swung Excalibur and the blade glowed for a moment as it reflected the blast. The resulting explosion flung Chris through the air, hitting the wall hard and collapsing to the floor. He groggily raised a hand to his aching head, and found it sticky with blood.

Through the haze, Chris could hear Prue's screaming and Wyatt's laughter echoing around the hall. Using the wall as support he pulled himself to his feet and took an unsteady step forward. Wyatt was approaching again and Chris' eyes widened as he saw Excalibur raised high.

He could hear the air whistling as the sword cut a wicked arc through it. A gasp of pain escaped his lips as the blade sank into his stomach, bright red blood spilling out. The sword was shockingly cold and an icy chill swept like poison through his body.

"Chris!" Prue and Darryl's frantic shouts washed over him as he sank back down to the floor, one hand clutching at his stomach. He felt the two run over to him and despite Wyatt's looming figure he felt a rush of comfort as they grasped his hand and shoulder.

Forcing his eyes open, Chris fancied he saw a shocked expression on his brother's face but at the same time a sudden realisation came to him.

"Prue." he rasped painfully, "Prue, think of Sanctuary."

"What?" his cousin chocked tearfully.

"Think..think of Sanctuary," he mumbled, "And hold on tight."

He felt Prue's and Darryl's grasps tighten and he used his last vestiges of strength to focus on dissolving the three of into a swarm of orbs.

The last thing he remembered before he blacked out was a sudden rush of warmth and a golden light shining through his eyelids.

* * *


	20. Hopes and Desires

Hello again! Hope the wait hasn't been too long. Here's chapter 20!

Autumn x

* * *

**Chapter 20: Hopes and Desires**

He was lying on something soft. That was the first though that Chris was conscious of. He shifted slightly and his eyes flickered open. There was a very bright light surrounding him and he squinted as his eyes adjusted to the brightness. He could see now that above him was clear blue sky with fluffy white clouds hovering calmly.

The next thing he noticed was the distinct lack of noise. However, the moment he though how strange that was, a tumultuous kaleidoscope of sounds rushed towards him from a distance and engulfed him. He shut his eyes tightly as his confused brain struggled to make sense of what was going on.

"Chris!" His name was frantically being repeated over and over again, overriding all the other noises bombarding his senses. He opened his eyes again and this time his view of the sky was blocked by blurry figures leaning over him. Four of them.

Repeated blinking cleared his vision and he belatedly recognised three of the people bending over him, with anxious expressions etched on their faces. Prue was the one calling his name, clutching his hand tightly, while at his feet Darryl and Sheila had their arms around each other. The fourth figure he didn't recognise but was wearing the golden robes of an Elder and had his hand splayed out over Chris' stomach.

The golden light dimmed and Chris' senses clicked back into place. He sat up running his fingers over his stomach which only moments ago had been gushing blood.

"Chris! You ok?" Prue blurted anxiously.

"Uh-" His tongue felt leaden but his head was clearing, "Yeah," he managed eventually, "I'm fine. Thank you." This directed at the Elder who had healed him.

"You are welcome. I fear the forthcoming battle would have gone badly if you were not present." The Elder, Orion, bowed his head.

"Battle?" Chris questioned, "Against Wyatt?"

Sheila shivered, still clasping onto her husband, "Has it really come to this?" she murmured regretfully.

Orion nodded, "We can think of no other way of restoring the balance between good and evil. Chris, I know he is your brother, but you must help. We will need someone of your skill to lead this battle."

"Wyatt lost all rights to calling himself our family when he killed Uncle Leo." Prue interrupted, her face uncharacteristically ugly.

Chris nodded slowly, "I know it must be done." he whispered.

"Thank you." Orion made to leave, "I will give you a few moments but we must call a meeting as soon as possible to decide the best course of action."

A little while later, Chris led the other three towards the pool of water that formed the centrepiece of Sanctuary. The courtyard was filled with Elders, mostly silent, with those at the front staring into the water that rippled without the need for wind.

He stepped up to Orion. "I'm ready." he announced, pale faced.

Orion sighed and turned away from the pool. "It is our seeing pool." he explained to Chris, "But it is mostly murky now, we can see little of what goes on inside the city." He sighed again, then shook his head to clear it. "Right, let us get this meeting started."

"Excuse me!" The Elder's voice rang commandingly across the courtyard, "The meeting shall start now."

Chris felt self-conscious as the eyes of everyone in Sanctuary turned towards him. Orion nodded at him to speak.

"As you may know, I'm Chris Halliwell, son of Piper Halliwell, one of the Charmed Ones." Chris paused to swallow in a dry throat, "You will also, no doubt, know of my brother Wyatt Halliwell, as he is the reason we are all here today."

He risked a quick glance over the assembled Elders; none appeared ready to denounce him as a follower of his brother. Encouraging smiles from Prue, Darryl and Sheila further boosted his confidence.

"Wyatt has taken over San Francisco. He has killed those who sought to stand in his way, and those who were nothing but convenient targets. And...and even though he's my brother, and even though I wish we could find a way to end this without more people dying, I...I don't honestly think that Wyatt will let that happen."

Chris felt red stain his cheeks as his voice broke in places but he ploughed on relentlessly. "Wyatt will kill us all, everyone who is standing here right now, and many, many more. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain. We have to fight back. We _have_ to. There are people out there who are unable to defend themselves against Wyatt and his demons, and we have the responsibility to help them."

"What _exactly _are you proposing we do?" interrupted a haughty looking, dark-haired Elder.

"We need to start fighting back." Chris announced, "But we have to have some semblance of order, we need to have a plan. Wyatt will have been planning this for a long time, we have to outsmart him. It's the only way we can win."

The Elder nodded slowly in appreciation, "So you are suggesting that we form a resistance group?"

"That's suicide!" another Elder interjected angrily, "Wyatt will hunt us down and kill us. We're safe here!"

Orion stepped into the argument, "Safe? Have you forgotten that Wyatt Halliwell is half whitelighter. If he knows where we are he can orb here and we have no way of stopping him unless we ground ourselves!"

"Like the young man said, we have a responsibility to help!" an elderly looking Elder put in his two cents.

Chris exchanged helpless glances with Prue, Darryl and Sheila, as the battle of words raged around the courtyard. The Elders were creating a tremendous din with their arguments, some for, others against the idea of a resistance group.

"Leave them to it, Chris." Darryl advised, almost shouting to make himself heard, "They'll need to discuss it anyway. But personally I think you did well, it was a grand speech!"

Prue nodded enthusiastically, "You were amazing!" she squealed, "Where can I sign up?"

"What?" "Prue!" "No way!" Were all heard simultaneously.

Prue scowled, hands on her hips and looking remarkably like her aunt Piper. "I want to fight. And I'm going to. Don't you dare tell me I'm too young, or whatever you were about to say, because you know I've been fighting demons for years and I'm bloody good at it!"

"We just don't want you to get hurt." Sheila said soothingly.

"Well it's a bit late for that!" exploded Prue, "Wyatt's already trying to kill me. I'm going to help and that's that!"

Chris frowned, but nothing he or the others could say would change Prue's mind. They eventually gave up, resigned to the fact that Prue would join the resistance. That is, _if _the Elders would agree to help form one.

A little while later, although a few debates buzzed around the courtyard, the majority of Elders had come to some conclusion and had resumed their staring into the seeing pool with a variety of solemn expressions. Chris caught Orion's eye and the Elder nodded.

"Excuse me!" he called again, "I trust you have all had time to discuss this proposal, now I think the only way to do this is to have a vote. I realise we Elders are not normally so democratic but this decision may well affect whether we live or die so we must go by the majority vote."

A rumble of agreement spread around the assembled group.

Orion gestured to Chris, who stepped forward somewhat apprehensively. "Ok, all those in favour of forming a resistance group put your hands up." he announced.

A wide number of Elders raised their arms, but before Chris could attempt to count them a bubble of light rose from each outstretched hand and gathered in a floating mass to the right-side of the courtyard. Chris blinked in surprise, but quickly realised that this must be some method of counting votes.

"And those against?"

There were only a few Elders who released a bubble of orbs, and the mass of light that settled over the left side of the courtyard was drastically smaller.

Chris felt a wide smile spread across his face, before hurriedly realising that it might not be appropriate and settling for a quick nod.

Orion pointed at the floating lights, "We appear to have decided. We shall help Chris Halliwell form a resistance group to fight the dictatorship of his brother."

A murmur of appreciation rippled across the group, and Prue gave Chris a thumbs up.

Orion added, "Any who do not wish to be a part of this resistance, come and find me after the meeting and we shall find a way to transport you out of Sanctuary and into another place, where hopefully none will find you."

The meeting broke up. "So what happens now?" Darryl asked.

Chris thought quickly, "We need to contact any remaining witches and magical beings and see if we can persuade them to help us. Orion, can you...?"

The Elder nodded, "I will send people to contact everyone we can find. We should bring anyone who wishes to help here immediately, and I suggest use memory dust on those who don't, to prevent Wyatt's troops from finding out what we are planning."

"Good idea." Chris agreed, "Let's get this revolution started!"

* * *

Wyatt let out an outraged roar, and swung his hand at a champagne glass sitting on the edge of his desk. He breathed heavily for a moment, watching the delicate glass smash into smithereens as it came into contact with the unyielding floor.

"How did this happen?" he hissed, fury weaving through his veins.

The heavy-set brute demon stood by the door, visibly apprehensive. "M-M'Lord?" he questioned tentatively.

In response Wyatt slammed a clenched fist onto the wooden desk, "How could they _escape_!" He was outright shouting now, body tensed and eyes a terrifying icy blue.

Kezlar remained silent this time, but Wyatt whirled upon him anyway, "Well?" he demanded, "Where is the Elder I commanded you to capture for me?"

"We-we have been unable to locate one, M'Lord" Kezlar muttered nervously.

Wyatt let out a growl of anger, "Chris'll be with the Elders now. So you need to find one, torture him and make him tell us where they're hiding them. Is. That. Understood?"

"Y-yes M'lord." Kezlar hurriedly turned to leave, leaving Wyatt alone in his office.

The witch yanked out the ornate chair and seated himself behind the desk. His thoughts were whirling, pure anger seeping insidiously into every section of his brain. When he got his hands on Chris again...

Wyatt shook his head to clear it of thoughts of what he wanted to do to his last remaining family members. He had to focus on bigger matters right now. He had a plan, and not even his little brother could distract him from it.

He knew what he wanted: more power, more control. And the next step was...California.

* * *

Chris was seated alone in a small chamber, away from the bustling activity that he had stirred the Elders into. Half-formed plans swirled through his brain, many marked as ridiculous and discarded, others showing potential and being carefully set-aside for further thought.

A soft knock sounded on the door and Chris rose to let his visitor in. He was expecting it to be Prue demanding he tell her every detail of his imprisonment, or maybe Sheila enquiring if he was ok, but instead it was Orion, the Elder, standing there looking slightly less composed than usual.

Chris frowned, "Is everything ok?" he asked.

"Yes, the preparations are going well." Orion replied hesitantly, "It's about something else that I've come to see you. It's about Wyatt."

"Oh," Chris sensed this was not something that the Elder found easy to say, "What is it?"

"I do not know if this will help any in fighting your brother but..." Orion took a deep breath and started his story. "Wyatt's birth caused a lot of...commotion, shall we say, across the entire magical community. Some saw him as a saviour, others as a threat. Even us Elders were divided upon the matter. One Elder was adamant that the amount of power Wyatt possessed would eventually corrupt him, but others, myself included, took a different view on the matter."

Orion paused to marshal his thoughts, Chris waited patiently, listening intently.

"Everyone has the ability to be good or evil. That's my belief, and it's a relatively common one amongst us Elders. But opinions as to when this choice occurs vary considerably. Some believe once you chose a side, you are condemned by your choice, you cannot change. Others believe that those who choose evil can later become good and vice versa. Personally I believe this latter case, while possible, is very rare, and even though I will not discourage you from attempting to return your brother to you, I do not think it will be achievable. Indeed, this resistance appears to be the only option. However, I will give you one piece of advice which may help you: Wyatt was originally good, that is irrefutable, but now he is lost to evil therefore something must have happened to make this switch."

"Wait...What?" Chris was confused now, he had tried to turn Wyatt back but now that he had all but given up Orion was giving him information that might make it possible again.

"My belief is that there was an event in Wyatt's life that made him susceptible to the influences of evil. Find that event and you may be able to repair some of the damage. I say 'may', as many are sure that Wyatt is too deeply immersed to come back now, but... I will leave that up to you. Maybe my information will be useless, but even so I feel you have the right to know."

Chris nodded vaguely, deep in thought, "Thank you."

The witch barely noticed as Orion left the room, one exciting thought flickering throughout his conscious. If he could find this event, this turning point in Wyatt's life, he could turn him back. He could have his brother back, and everything would be ok again.

If.

It was enough to keep that small flicker of hope burning.


	21. Red Sky at Night

Look! Two updates in the same month! Are you all amazed? Anyway, here is chapter 21... I've introduced a new character in this chapter (_disclaimer: she belongs to Charmed, i didn't make her up etc etc_) and I know everyone seems to hate her but it had to happen at some point didn't it? Well...I can't remember if I ever mentioned this before but this story will eventually end up with being somewhere on the way to Chris-Crossed so it did have to happen! Anyway this story is predominantly about Wyatt and Chris so any other characters are only really peripherary anyway.

Oh and at the end Wyatt is referring to the rhyme "red sky at night, shepherds delight; red sky in the morning, shepherds warning." (or whatever variation you might know it as).

..And what is up with the document editor? It keeps deleting things when I save this. Grrrrrr. Let me know if you notice any mistakes!

Mwah and please review! x

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**Chapter 21: Red Sky at Night**

A few days had passed since Chris and Darryl's escape from Wyatt's clutches and the time had passed in a whirlwind of bustle and activity. The Elder's had been true to their word and had sent news of the resistance group far and wide across the magical community. The response, although slow to start, had been gratifying. A large proportion of those wishing to join were residing in the magically enlarged Sanctuary with more arriving every day. They were even organised enough to have teams of scouts out and about in San Francisco, hoping to pick up any information that could be useful to the Resistance.

Chris was currently secluded away in the corner of a room discussing battle tactics with Darryl, Orion and another Elder called Mayer. Mayer had apparently been an army doctor in life, like Leo, so had some ideas of what to expect in a close quarters battle.

"We need to accept that a lot of the Resistance have never fought before, and even with the training they're receiving now they're unlikely to be able to kill a demon in a one-on-one fight." Chris was arguing. "We need to come up with a plan that won't get them all slaughtered."

Darryl sighed, "Chris, I agree in principle but without fighting them how exactly do you propose on winning? Wyatt seized power by force and he's holding onto it by force."

"Exactly." Mayer nodded grimly, "We're going to have to train all members to the best of their abilities and finish this in an all out fight. Surround Wyatt and fight our way to the centre. Create a sort of cordon, if you like."

Chris was shaking his head still, "No, no, no. Wyatt has too many demons and we have too few fighters. They'll break through the cordon and we'll end up being clustered in little groups with no hope of victory."

Orion, who had been silent up until this point, stirred and interjected quietly, "Then we need to draw out some of his demons. Create a diversion."

"Yes," Darryl lighted up, "That would work. If we can remove some of the demons from the city centre and take it over then our positions will be reversed. We'll have the stronghold while Wyatt will be hiding out with nowhere safe to go."

Mayer frowned, "I think our priority must be to capture or kill Wyatt." He ignored Chris's flinch at these words and carried on regardless, "If we remove their leader then they'll be disorganised and things will revert to the way they always are after the death of a source: internal power struggles killing off all the most powerful demons. We'll have time to regroup and reaffirm our position before a new leader emerges."

"Again, good in principle, but slightly more difficult in practise." Darryl pointed out, "Wyatt is the twice-blessed, most powerful witch of all time etc etc. He'll be well guarded and even if we break through the demons he's probably strong enough to defeat us all single handed."

"If we could somehow make a potion that would bind his powers without him having to drink it..." Chris mused, "But Prue and I already tried that and we couldn't make one."

Orion nodded, "Yes, it is difficult to bind a witch's powers without their consent. Especially one as powerful as your brother."

"Well..." Chris broke off as a cacophony of noise suddenly exploded from the courtyard. "What is that?" he asked, worriedly getting to his feet.

The four men rushed outside and were met by a horrifying sight. A scout team had, using their various forms of teleportation, appeared back in the courtyard in various states of bloodstained disarray. Two of the five were clearly dead, their unseeing eyes staring blankly out of damaged bodies.

A dark-haired girl with one hand wrapped around her copiously bleeding arm, looked towards Chris and the others and gasped out, "We were attacked...demons..." She closed her eyes slightly in pain and Orion immediately rushed forward to heal her wound.

Chris followed and supported the girl while the gash in her arm closed and colour began to flood back into her cheeks. "We thought we should bring the bodies back..." she added uncertainly, after smiling her thanks at Orion.

Chris withdrew his arm, "Are you alright?" he asked solicitously, unable to ignore the fact that she was very pretty with warm brown eyes. He also couldn't help noticing that she was probably only a few years older than him.

"Yeah...yes I'm fine now. Thank you." the girl smiled at him, sending butterflies swooping into Chris's stomach.

He tried to ignore them by clearing his throat and asking what had happened.

"We were nearing the City Hall, when we saw a group of demons standing around outside." the girl began her story, "So we thought...I mean, we were curious, they were having some sort of heated discussion and one of them matched the description of that brute demon, Kezlar was it? So we snuck closer into one of the alleys and, one of the witches, she knew a sound enhancing spell, so, so she used it and we were listening in when all of a sudden we were surrounded by a load of demons. We started attacking them, but they just called over the demons we were eavesdropping on and suddenly we were seriously outnumbered."

She cast her gaze over to where the rest of the team were, "Brenda was killed pretty much straight away," she muttered, "Knife straight to the chest, and then Adam got hit with an energy ball. I mean, we weren't going to win, only get the rest of us killed, so I shouted for us all to transport ourselves out of there on the count of three...and well, we couldn't leave the others behind for those scum demons to get their hands on."

"You came straight here?" Orion asked gently.

The girl shook her head, "We agreed beforehand, to go to this park. We were told they might be able to track us straight here..?"

Orion nodded in relief, "Yes we fear they might." He turned to Mayer who was standing just behind him, "Mayer, if you could..."

"They're going to attack the rest of California. Tomorrow." The girl cut in abruptly.

"W-what?" Chris frowned in confusion.

"That's what we heard." the girl explained, "I'm sorry I should have told you straight away, but..." her eyes travelled to the two dead witches before focusing on Chris again. "That brute demon was going on about how he was trying a capture an Elder but he couldn't because the demons were so useless, and how he didn't have time to supervise them 24/7 as he was also overseeing the plans for the attack tomorrow."

"He specifically said, it would be the rest of California and it was happening tomorrow?" Chris demanded, his eyes igniting with a determined fire.

"Yes."

"Orion..." Chris turned to the Elder but he needed no prompting.

"I shall call a meeting immediately. Perhaps if...Bianca isn't it?" The girl nodded, "Perhaps if you could join us too and relate what you heard."

Bianca nodded, "Of course."

'_Bianca_' Chris repeated in his mind as he directed the girl in question towards the meeting place, '_That's a pretty name..._'

* * *

"Is everything set?" Wyatt demanded of the semi-circle of demons standing before him.

Murmurs of "Yes M'Lord." sounded from about the room.

"Good." Wyatt stood up and smiled majestically, "Tomorrow we shall be triumphant again and if successful you will all be rewarded handsomely."

The demons exchanged greedy grins and one even went so far as to rub his hands together gleefully.

"But..." Wyatt went on silkily, a dangerous undertone clearly evident, "If _any_ of you, for _any_ reason, fail in the task I have set you, then. You. Will. Be OBLITERATED! Do I make myself clear?" Wyatt was shouting now, although the piercing blueness of his eyes showed him to be in complete control. "I want California! And California I shall get. So do NOT fail me!"

The demons were suitably cowed, yet equally determined to successfully complete their part in the plan. They didn't want to be killed before they received any of the glory that would undoubtedly be coming their way.

Wyatt turned his gaze to Kezlar, standing in the coveted position at the far left of the semi-circle. "I wish to inspect the troops." he informed the brute demon coldly, "Are they prepared?"

"Yes M'Lord. I will show you the way M'Lord."

"Very well." Wyatt nodded, "You are all dismissed. Just remember, by the end of tomorrow I want to hold _all_ of California in my grasp. And I will let nothing stand in my way. See that you don't."

As the demons filed out, Kezlar waiting patiently behind, Wyatt turned to the window to watch the setting sun. The sky had turned a deep blood red and Wyatt laughed at the irony. He doubted anyone would be feeling any delight tomorrow.


	22. Time Before Time

Hi everyone! Here is chapter 22. I know I'm rubbish at updating but anyway the next chapter might be a while coming as I'm going away for a month. Really sorry and will try to get a new chapter up soon after I come home.

Hope you enjoy and thanks for reading!

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**Chapter 22: Time Before Time**

An early morning silence hung over San Francisco like a heavy drape covering a window. Occasionally, dark figures would march by, uttering no sounds bar the steady thumping of their feet; muffled footsteps that quickly trailed off, swallowed whole by the silence. Residents were sheltering inside their flimsy homes, praying that the shadows insidiously moving towards the outskirts would pass them by unscathed.

The burning sun hung low in the sky, shafts of light eerily illuminating the deserted streets rather than offering a comforting repose from the previous blackness.

Alone in his office Wyatt stood rigid at the window, surveying the city, _his_ city. San Francisco was already in his grasp but he had not yet reached the dizzy heights of success. He had power, but he craved more. San Francisco was merely a starting point, the centre of a virus that would surely reach out and touch even the remotest parts of this world. Today was the day that the world would realise that one city was not enough for Wyatt Halliwell. No. He wanted the world in his grasp. And unlike others who had reached for this goal, he had the power to obtain it.

The tall blonde cast a quick glance at his watch. It would all begin in a little more than an hour. His demons would be in position and the pathetic human army would be unaware. It would all be so simple. Suddenly feeling in an exceptionally good mood, Wyatt opened his mouth and let the peals of laughter ring around the room. It would begin in an hour...

* * *

"It looks like almost every demon in the city is headed towards Wyatt's barrier." The scout informed the ragged, tired group clustered at Sanctuary's heart.

Chris nodded in acknowledgement. "We should get everyone in position to be transported out." The teen sighed, "I only wish we could have had more _time_."

Darryl placed a comforting hand on his godson's shoulder, "We've been working all night. We're as prepared as we can possibly be."

Chris blinked wearily, "It takes more than a night to train an army." he muttered.

The Elder, Mayer, shrugged his shoulders, "They're volunteers all. They know what rides on us winning today. If Wyatt can take and hold the whole of California it'll be almost impossible to unseat him. And then we'll probably all die anyway."

"I have faith that we can win this." Orion interrupted, raising his voice so that the rag-tag bunch of fighters could hear.

Chris tried to nod encouragingly, "We have the element of surprise. Just remember the plan and do your best to implement it. I won't pretend that it's going to be easy, or that we're all going to get through this unscathed. But we have two things that Wyatt and his demons don't have: we have the conviction that we're doing the right thing and we have nothing to lose. And they are both pretty powerful incentives."

One of the witches punched a fist in the air and shouted "Yeah!" starting a round of cheering and yelling amongst the fighters. All of their tiredness appeared to be forgotten.

A group of Elders made their way through the crowd, dividing the fighters into groups. These Elders were to participate primarily in the transportation of those unable to do so themselves, whether due to not having the ability to teleport or being injured. It had been decided that unless someone would die without immediate healing then all the injured would be transported back to Sanctuary to be healed. This would both save the strength of the Elders on the battlefield and prevent any demons from killing the Elders while their backs were turned. The few whitelighters lefts after Wyatt's earlier purge would also be participating.

The preparations were going smoothly apart from one little disturbance that Chris could see heading his way. He sighed and braced himself for the onslaught of his little cousin.

"_They_ say I'm not allowed to fight." Prue seethed, waving vaguely at Darryl and Sheila. "_Apparently _I have to stay behind and help keep things organised at this end. That's what the Elders are for!"

"Prue, Wyatt is going to be looking for you. We have to keep you safe." Chris crossed his arms and met his cousin's defiant glare.

Prue scoffed, "Well Wyatt is looking for you too. _And_ Darryl. And Darryl doesn't even have powers to fight with!"

"Prue, this isn't an argument, it's already been decided. You're staying here."

"No! I won't just sit here while you and everyone else risks their lives!"

Chris found himself shouting, "I can't watch you die, Prue! You're the only family I have left." Chris bit his lip and looked away. His gaze feel on Bianca, standing only a short distance away, and flushed, feeling embarrassed that she had probably witnessed his outburst.

He looked back at Prue, who had been uncharacteristically silent.

"I know," she said almost tearfully, "And as much as I love Sheila and Darryl, you're the only true family that I have left too. Don't you think I want you to stay behind too? But I know you can't, because you have to fight. Because it's Wyatt. And _he's_ our family too. I just..." she trailed off and looked away uncertainly, "I just want to help."

Chris wrapped his arms around his younger cousin and held her tight. "I know and you are." he assured her, "You're leading the potion making effort here, because that's what you do best. We need ammunition out there and for all those without offensive powers potions are all we have."

Suddenly Orion was at their side, "It's time." he told them sombrely.

Chris nodded. "You'll stay here?" he asked Prue.

"I- Yes, ok." she agreed reluctantly.

"Good." Chris released her and tried to grin encouragingly. "I'll see you later."

A tension-filled silence had descended upon Sanctuary. Each battle group was clustered around an Elder with their faces set in grim expressions, hands tightly clenched.

"Okay, this is it!" Chris called out. He hesitated, unsure of what to say next, "Good luck." he finally settled for, despite feeling that this was somewhat inadequate.

Orion nodded to the nearest group. They all clasped hands and slowly disintegrated into a mass of blue-white orbs. The other groups quickly followed suit. Chris glanced to his left and his gaze met Bianca's. She flashed him a smile before her group was orbed out.

Suddenly feeling a lot more optimistic, Chris walked over to Darryl and grasped his godfathers shoulder. "Ready?" he asked.

Darryl nodded, "As I'll ever be."

The two orbed out, following the glowing orbs of the rest of the fighters, and leaving Sheila and Prue staring miserably at the roof.

"I hope they'll be ok." Prue whispered.

Sheila hugged the teen tightly, "They will."

* * *

Around the city clusters of orbs coalesced in pre-determined locations. If their luck had held then the demons would have already passed the areas by and were now trapped between the Resistance fighters and the magical barrier set up to mark the city's edges.

Chris and Darryl reformed near their group and hurriedly joined the other fighters in sheltering behind some overturned blocks of rubble. The barrier had decimated a wide strip of land on both sides, creating San Francisco's very own no-man's land. Chris and the others could see a line of demons not too far ahead of them standing at the very edge of the barren strip. The line was several demons thick and seemed to be part of a continuous circle around the city, although seeing as where they were, the southern side of the city, was the most accessible, Chris assumed that there was a higher concentration of demons here.

"We should attack them now, before the barrier comes down." One of the resistance, who Chris believed was called John, hissed.

Darryl checked his watch. It read 10 minutes to 9. "No, we have to act at the same time as the others. 5 minutes."

Chris nodded, "Our scouts overheard that Wyatt plans to lower the barrier at 9 exactly, we have to assume that he'll stick to that time."

"Ok, but I don't like it." John grumbled, "There's too much that can go wrong."

Chris stayed silent but inwardly agreed. The plan _did_ involve a high element of chance but it was the best that they could come up with in the 12 hours provided to them. They just had to hope.

* * *

Alone in his office Wyatt was staring at the antique clock he had placed on his desk. The second hand was ticking so slowly that the twice-blessed witch was sure it had completely stopped at one point. But ever so slowly the second hand inched around and passed twelve, again and again.

There was eight minutes left. Eight minutes until nine o'clock. Eight minutes until he would lower the barrier and unleash his troops on the unknowing army that sought to stop him.

Seven minutes.

Wyatt sighed in impatience. He _hated_ waiting. And the tick-tocking of the clock was driving him insane. Surely it wouldn't hurt for him to bump up the schedule a little bit. Just by a few minutes. After all he was the twice-blessed, the next King Arthur, the wielder of Excalibur. Why should he have to wait any longer? It was his plan and he could change it if he wanted to.

'They say time waits for no man,' Wyatt thought, 'but in this case it is _I_, Wyatt Halliwell, who will not wait for _time_.'

In a decisive movement Wyatt opened the glass case of the clock and wrenched the minute hand around until it reached nine o'clock exactly. A soft dong rang out followed by eight more as Wyatt strode to the door of his office and pulled the door open.

"It's time." he informed his guards. "Pass the message to my troops."

* * *

Chris refrained from checking his watch again. Last time he checked they still had three minutes to go and he was sure that no more than fifteen seconds had passed since then. The rest of the group was restless too. Shifting around, checking and re-checking they had their potions, their athames, their guns.

Chris peered out at the demons. In contrast they were standing stock still and in complete silence. Nevertheless they were waiting just as surely as the resistance were.

"Two minutes." Darryl whispered.

The fighters started to form a rough line and pulled out the explosive potions designed for the first attack. Time inexorably crept forwards. One and a half minutes to go.

A sudden flurry of movement from the demonic troops caught Chris's attention. He narrowed his eyes, what were they doing? There was still six and a half minutes before the barrier was to be raised.

But the resistance could only watch frozen in shock and the barrier flickered and failed and the demons started charging forwards, a cacophonous mixture of battle cries issuing from their mouths.

"They're early! What do we do?" John hissed from his position next to Chris.

Chris looked to his other side and met Darryl's gaze grimly. The two nodded simultaneously in unspoken agreement.

Chris stood up, in plain view on any demon that might turn around, and raised his potion.

"We fight."


	23. San Francisco Fighting

Hey, sorry for the long wait again but this summers been manic and I've barely been at home! Hope this chapters ok!  
Autumn x x x

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Chapter 23: San Francisco Fighting

Fierce battle cries and loud explosions mingled with hoarse screams of pain and frantic shouting. The smell of acrid burning hung heavily in the air, wisps of thick smoke obstructing views and stinging eyes. Block of masonry littered the floor, tripping up the unwary yet at the same time providing shelter for the injured.

Chris wiped the sweat from his forehead, feeling gritty soot smear across his face. He stepped over the pile of ash that had been his previous opponent and his gaze landed on Darryl a few feet ahead of him. His godfather was firing his gun singlehanded at a demon, while his other hand desperately sought for the potion contained in his pocket. Stepping forward Chris outstretched a hand and immediately the demon vanished into a whirlwind of fire with a cry of pain.

"Thanks." Darryl nodded, weariness evident in his tone.

Chris offered a half-hearted smile in return, before both men ducked quickly as a fireball swung over their heads. Chris felt a sudden chill as the heat from the fireball vanished and he knew that that time had been very close. Almost too close.

He squinted into the gloom, willing the non-existent wind to blow the smoke away. A huge hulking figure suddenly materialised in front of the two crouching fighters and instinctively Chris waved a hand to blow the demon up. The attack caused a small burst of flames to hit the demon's chest but other than a charred circle of flesh the demon appeared unharmed.

"Damn." hissed Chris, "He's upper level."

Another fireball whizzed towards Chris and Darryl, causing the pair to dive in opposite directions as an avoidance tactic. Still on the ground Chris focused his telekinesis and the demon was blasted flat on its back. The demon scrabbled to its feet but another swipe of Chris's hand sent it tumbling head over heels into a large chunk of masonry. As the demon lay dizzy for a moment, Darryl approached swiftly and tossed a potion with careful aim. Chris pulled himself to his feet as flames consumed their opponent and flashed a quick grin at his godfather, "My turn to say thanks."

Both men turned as a mewling cry of pain sounded from behind them. Stumbling over the rubble they made their way towards the noise, Chris almost tripping over the writhing man as a sudden shift in the smoke cleared the area. Darryl immediately crouched by the injured fighter, his hands pressing hard on a vicious wound which had split the victim's stomach open. Chris quickly finished the demon off with a quick flick of his hands and sent a mental call to the nearest Elder. A swarm of orbs materialised beside the trio, the brightness hurting their eyes after so long in the gloom of the battlefield.

The Elder, his long golden robes ripped and singed, barely needed a glance at the injured man before his hand had replaced Darryl's and a glow of golden light swirled around the victim's middle.

"I'll take him back to Sanctuary" the Elder informed Chris gruffly, as his brow furrowed in concentration and the golden light flickered, more blood pouring out of the open wound. The two vanished in a swirl of orbs and Chris tried not to think of the fact that the fighter would surely die considering the Elder had looked that worried.

A tangle of fighters tumbled into the space just vacated and Chris and Darryl immediately dived in to help, magical means abandoned in favour of punching and kicking. Chris felt his head fly to the side as a green and spiked hand collided with his jaw, with careful aiming he positioned his hand a few inches from the demons face and used his power of molecular combustion to decimate the demon. He took a step back, tripped over someone's flailing legs and collapsed on the floor, a rough edged piece of masonry slicing into his calf. Chris winced but grabbed the shoulder of the fighter he had tripped over and pulled them to the ground as a fireball zoomed overhead. A potion arced in the opposite direction and he saw Darryl grin in satisfaction as the fireball's originator was vanquished with unearthly screams.

Darryl tossed another potion into the fray and was rewarded by another vanquish, leaving only the one demon left. The two fighters left in the skirmish both struck out with knives and final demon collapsed before being incinerated in the resulting flames.

There appeared to be no more demons in the immediate vicinity and the five fighters spent a moment on clapping each other on the backs, in celebration of their minor victory with no casualties.

A deafening roar disrupted them and they spun around to face the huge demon thundering towards them. The demon was about twice the size of a normal demon and the volley of potions that was thrown at it seemed to be nothing more than an irritation. Chris aimed his blasting power but the demon simply growled and shrugged it off. Its flesh appeared to be unharmed.

One of the other fighters threw a knife and cheered as it sunk into the demon's upper arm. The demon stopped its heavy footsteps and howled, wrenching out the knife with a stream of dark blood. The fighter's glee was short lived, however, as the demon flung the knife back in a curving arc that sliced his windpipe and left him gasping blood on the floor. An Elder appeared almost instantaneously and Chris threw a few more blasts at the demon distracting it as the Elder orbed the injured man out.

The four men left threw a volley of potions at the demon and Chris frowned in trepidation as yet again the demon was left unharmed. It appeared that only metal could damage the demon.

Chris ducked around the back of the demon as the other three distracted it, and withdrew a knife from his belt. He aimed carefully then leapt up, slamming the knife into the demon's spine. Chris fell to the ground as the demon spun round, arms flailing in pain. His head smashed into a fallen chunk of rubble and he lay dazed for a moment. The demon, ignoring Darryl and the other two fighters for a moment, directed a fireball at the fallen witch-whitelighter and Chris barely rolled out of the way. The fireball collided with the ground mere inches from his head.

A spray of grit washed over his face from the explosion and in reflex the teenager closed his stinging eyes. By the time he opened them the next fireball was heading in his direction and there was no time to move.

All of a sudden an energy ball whizzed out of nowhere and collided with the fireball, their impact triggering an explosion that blasted all those in the vicinity to the ground.

Chris pulled himself to his feet, determined to gain a height advantage on the demon that was even now clumsily trying to steady itself on its knees. He saw a figure approach from behind the demon, a knife glinting in their hand. Chris immediately scrambled for a chunk of rock and threw it with all his strength at the demon.

The demon grunted as the rock hit his shoulder, but was clearly more annoyed than hurt. Darryl, noticing the stealthy figure approaching, joined in the distraction pelting the demon with whatever they could throw.

In a swift move, the fighter jumped onto the demons back and brought the knife down, scything through the air and neatly slicing through the demon's throat. The demon writhed and howled before collapsing face down on the ground. Within moments all that was left was a pile of dust.

"Bianca!" Chris exclaimed, recognising the woman standing in front of him, "Uh, thanks."

She flashed him a grin that, even in the circumstances, made his stomach do a funny little somersault. "No problem."

The smoke was dissipating slightly now, and Chris looked around the battle field. There were still a few skirmishes going on but the demons were widely outnumbered and seemed to be losing swiftly. He felt a wild enthusiasm rise in his chest. Were they actually winning?

Heavy artillery fire was coming from a little distance ahead and as the smoke cleared even more Chris thought he could make out men in camouflage gear drawing steadily closer.

"Look, it's the army." Darryl pointed, "We must have broken through the demons ranks to meet in the middle! We've beaten them!"

Bianca frowned, "Maybe, but the demons are leaving. Look. They wouldn't retreat without orders."

Chris followed her gaze and his brow furrowed in confusion. The demons were indeed shimmering away. He could hear cheering from both the resistance and the army, the two groups now only separated by a few metres. Had they really won? Chris couldn't help but feel that something wasn't right. There was an almost tangy taste in the air, and he could feel faint vibrations.

"Can you feel that?" he asked those around him.

"Feel what?" Darryl shook his head.

Bianca, however, nodded her head. "Yeah, it's magic of some sort. A lot of it. Something's happening..."

The ground in front of them suddenly appeared to be bathed in a blue light. Someone bent down to touch it and was blasted back, and Chris suddenly understood.

"The barrier's coming back up!" he shouted, reaching out both hands to pull Darryl and Bianca backwards. "Be careful, get out of the way!"

The blue wall was rising from the ground slowly yet inexorably separating San Francisco and the Resistance from the outside world. The Resistance were stumbling backwards now, no-one wanting to be closer to the barrier than they had to be.

Shouts rang from their right, and Chris spun round watching in apprehension as demons began shimmering back again. Chris understood instantly what was happening. Wyatt had realised that he couldn't fight both the Resistance and the Army, so had replaced the barrier, separating the Resistance from their potential allies.

It was a victory of sorts for them, Chris realised. Wyatt couldn't lower the barrier again, not with the Army waiting, expecting another attack. San Francisco was still in his brother's hands but he had failed in conquering more of America.

"We should retreat." Chris told Darryl, "We have too many injured and dead to fight the demons again."

Darryl nodded in agreement, "Wyatt won't attack again. Not now."

The order to retreat was sent out and the demons could only watch in anger as the Resistance swiftly disappeared in groups of swirling orbs. The fighting was over for today.


	24. Interrogating News

Look at how quickly I updated this time! I think this chapter may come off a little disjointed so sorry if it doesn't seem to flow very well. Hope you like it though. x x

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Chapter 24: Interrogating News

Inside the studio, the newsreader waited for the nod from his superior before pretending to shuffle his papers into order as the camera swooped down from the ceiling to capture his grim looking face. Twelve chimes rang out signalling the start of the lunchtime news.

"Good afternoon." he announced, "Further fighting broke out in the city of San Francisco this morning leaving over 50 of our troops dead and many more injured. However the terrorists, under the leadership of one Wyatt Halliwell, gained no further ground from the attack."

Beside him, the second newsreader took up the report. "There have also been reports of a group resisting the take-over within the city itself." she continued, "Viewers will remember that the apparently magical barriers set up around the city trapped all residents inside leaving worried relatives unsure about the fate of their loved ones. This is the first proof we have that at least some are still alive."

"Our reporter, Jane Ellis, is outside San Francisco now," the first newsreader added, touching his earpiece, "Jane, what is the situation there at the moment?"

The TV cut to a middle aged woman standing in the army camp. The shimmering barriers could be seen in the background and men in camouflage scurried about the camp. "Well," the reporter began, "The fighting started just before dawn this morning in what experts believe was to be a surprise attack. However, as the barrier came down Wyatt Halliwell's troops did not attack immediately; instead they appeared to be being attacked from behind, thereby giving our soldiers time to form a defence plan."

The screen cut back to the studio, "So is this proof that the citizens of San Francisco are alive?" asked the second newsreader.

"At the moment nothing is known about this mysterious resistance, but unless Halliwell is experiencing some serious contention in his ranks then yes, the best guess is that those still alive in the city are fighting back." Ellis replied, "The barrier was raised again before our troops could reach the city and we do not believe that any from inside the city made it past the barrier either. However it is of little doubt that if this resistance hadn't attacked Halliwell's army then our losses would be much greater."

The female newsreader cut in with another question, "And what of Wyatt Halliwell's claim of magic? Was there any evidence of that?"

In the field, Jane Ellis hesitated briefly before answering, "From speaking with our troops, they claim to have witnessed what appears to be 'magic'. There have been reports of creatures, called demons by some, shooting fire and electricity from their hands. Some soldiers have said they fought against beings that were unharmed by bullets and appeared to possess superhuman strength."

Back in the studio the newsreaders exchanged worried looks, "But all-in-all what is the general consensus of today?" the first asked.

"Well, despite everything, it was an unmistakable victory for our side." Ellis concluded, "Halliwell's attack failed and there is no doubt that he will be less than happy with this result."

* * *

Inside the City Hall of San Francisco, Wyatt Halliwell was indeed furious. He was absolutely livid. He had _lost_. Wyatt Halliwell, the twice-blessed, bearer of Excalibur, had actually lost and it was all down to his good-for-nothing brother. Chris and his pathetic resistance.

Wyatt snarled and let an energy ball explode at a wall already covered in numerous scorch marks. The once carpeted floor was also blackened with a light dusting of ash, suggesting that those who had brought the unhappy news to their leader were no longer counted amongst the living.

'Maybe I should have joined in the fighting', Wyatt thought bitterly, 'After all I guess it _is_ true that if you want something done properly you have to do it yourself. But then this was supposed to be an easy victory...'

Wyatt let loose another energy ball with a growl of frustration. He was going to have to do something about this Resistance if he wanted to start another attack. If they could stop him once then they could stop him again. And San Francisco just wasn't enough. He needed more.

A hesitant knock on the door pulled Wyatt out of his scheming. His eyes narrowed in annoyance but nevertheless he was impressed by the audacity of his visitor to willingly enter his office after the fate of the previous guests.

"Enter." he barked, and was mostly unsurprised when the door swung open revealing Kezlar, a brute demon who was his best lieutenant.

"My Lord." Kezlar bowed his head in submission but Wyatt could sense the air of excitement around the demon.

"What is it?" Wyatt demanded, hardly daring to believe that there might be some good news.

Kezlar's mouth twisted into what probably passed as a grin for brute demons and proudly announced, "My Lord, we have captured an Elder."

Wyatt felt his heart leap in jubilation. "Finally." he hissed, "What have you done with him?"

"He is in the dungeons, M'Lord." grunted Kezlar, "I thought perhaps you might like to question the Elder yourself?"

An unholy smirk crossed Wyatt's face. "Yes," he murmured, "Yes I think I would. Perhaps now we can find out where this Sanctuary is located so we can crush Chris' little resistance."

* * *

At that moment Sanctuary was in such a state of disarray that, had he known, Wyatt may have been a little less worried about the prospect of meeting them in battle again.

There were injured everywhere, some collapsed on the ground, others leaning wearily against pillars and walls. And amongst these were flashes of gold and Elders rushed about healing all those they could.

Chris was surveying the scene from an upstairs balcony. His leg had been healed and after a joyful reunion with Prue and Sheila him, Darryl and Orion had retreated upstairs to discuss the battle.

"It was a victory." Darryl had constantly insisted and Orion had been quick to agree. However, as Chris watched the numerous injured and felt his eyes drawn to the area designated for those who had not managed to be healed, he couldn't help but feel that it was a sorry victory.

"Chris," Darryl approached the teen, "Wyatt lost. He lost the battle. And no matter what losses we had, overall we still won."

Chris sighed, "I know." He caught a glance of Prue darting through the crowd, arms filled with healing potions and felt a burst of pride. Everyone had done all they could, they had all fought their hardest and it _had_ paid off. Technically they _had_ won. Chris had just always assumed that victory was a little more joyful than this.

"Forgive me if this is insensitive," Orion cut in, "But I feel I must point out that Wyatt will know we exist now. We cannot expect that there will not be other fights."

Darryl nodded in agreement, "We need more fighters. We had the element of surprise today but we can't count on that again."

"You're right." Chris nodded, setting his jaw in a grim line, "As much as I hate to think of dragging more people into this bloody battle we cannot afford to lose. We'll have to start recruiting, persuading the San Franciscans to join us."

Darryl laid a comforting hand on his godsons shoulder, "It's not your fault Chris, none of this is."

Chris nodded sadly, "I know," he whispered, "It's Wyatt's. And I'm going to have to do whatever I have to to stop him."

* * *

Down in the dungeons, a figure was chained to the stone floor surrounded by a gaggle of jeering demons. The man's golden robes were torn and scorched and any visible skin was streaked with dirt and blood.

"Not so high and mighty now are we _Elder_," sneered one of the onlookers throwing an energy ball that landed inches from the Elder's face. Raucous laughter rang out from the crowd, accompanied by cheers and stamping of feet.

"Well, well, well." interrupted a cool voice from the cell entrance, "I see we have indeed managed to capture an Elder."

The demons all stepped back and dipped their heads in deference to their leader as Wyatt entered the cell and walked a lazy circle around the prisoner.

"Has he said anything yet?" Wyatt enquired.

"No M'Lord." grunted a demon with black tattoos covering most of his face, "Nothing yet. He won't even scream in pain."

Wyatt surveyed the shackled figure, "Is that so?" he murmured fixing his icy gaze on the Elder's dark eyes, "Well we shall have to do something about that then, shan't we."

The Elder mustered up the deadliest glare he could manage and spat, "I will never tell you anything and no pain in the world can make me."

Wyatt laughed without mirth and snapped his fingers at Kezlar, who had followed behind. "Bring me the crystal cage." he demanded.

"Yes M'Lord." assented the brute demon hurrying out of the cell.

"Forgive me M'Lord," the tattooed demon spoke up hesitantly, "But can a crystal cage trap an Elder? I was under the impression that they only work on those that are evil."

Wyatt smirked, "Oh but this is a special crystal cage, made with special crystals." Kezlar returned and Wyatt waved a hand instructing the demon to set up the cage, "Watch." the twice-blessed instructed.

As the last crystal was put into place shimmering bands of black extended from each crystal and joined at the top. Wyatt stepped forwards and nudged one of the crystals with his foot, sending a shock through the cage. The Elder's body jerked and a guttural scream was wrenched from his mouth.

"See," Wyatt informed the watching demons coldly, "This is so much more effective. Now, let the interrogation begin."


	25. Discoveries

Hi everyone, I'm finally back! I'm not too happy with this chapter but it's been so long I thought I had better upload it straight away and not keep you waiting any longer. Hope you think its ok. Please review and leave your opinion!  
I have the plot for the rest of this story planned out so hopefully it wont take too long between updates... but then i guess it depends how much time you define long as! I'll be updating as fast as I possibly can anyway!

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**Chapter 25: Discoveries **

The smell of burning and the unnatural quietness were the first things one noticed about the city of San Francisco. Many months had now passed since Wyatt's takeover and the city was barely recognisable. The skyline had changed dramatically; many buildings had been reduced to piles of rubble and ugly high rise flats, accommodation for the humans, rose out of the destruction. Large areas had been cleared to build army camps, filled with Wyatt's demonic troops, and nearby, heavily guarded by marching columns of demons, stood neat rows of factories. The squat buildings belched smoke and debris into the air and their perimeters were marked by concentric rings of electric fencing.

For Chris and the resistance, endless reconnaissance trips and information gathering had led them to pinpoint a specific factory as the one which they needed to destroy. Subtle yet heavy recruiting had persuaded many human residents of San Francisco into joining the resistance. Few actually moved into Sanctuary, unless their lived were threatened, but instead they lived as spies, watching and waiting. One of these, a man named Barry Newell, had provided the information that had led to a small group of resistance fighters being crouched in a small copse of trees on a hillside overlooking the factories. It was the middle of the night.

"Where is he?" Darryl hissed, meaning their informant.

Chris pointed silently at a figure scurrying across to the copse by means of running from shadow to shadow.

The group waited patiently for the man to arrive. "Newell?" asked Chris, noticing how Darryl and two others were cautiously covering the man with their guns.

The man, tall and burly, nodded, "Yeah, 'The Power of Three will set us free'" he replied giving the passphrase, "You Chris Halliwell then?"

Chris smiled then held out a hand and the two shook. "This is Darryl, Jake, Helen, Dom, Yelena, Susan, Mark, Louis and Mandy." he introduced the rest of the group, pointing at each as they were named.

Newell raised a hand in greeting, "Shall we get this over with then?" he proposed, "I've got two little ones at home and the longer we're out here the more likely I am to get caught."

"Let's go." Chris agreed, and the group carefully made their way down the hill, stopping in an alley not far from the first fence.

"The next patrol should be here in just under five minutes" Darryl whispered, "Then we'll have fifteen minutes to get through the fences before they'll be back again."

The group settled down to wait and the patrolling demons passed without incidence. "Right," Chris hissed, "Dom, you know what to do."

Dom crept out from their hiding place and placed both hands mere centimetres from the fence. He concentrated and soon the electricity was being pulled out of the fence and into his hands in a bright, crackling stream. Dom was a witch with the power to manipulate electricity.

The others hurried over to the fence and Darryl pulled out a pair of wire cutters. The area of fence between Dom's hands was now free from electricity so this was where the ex-cop quickly cut a hole large enough for someone to climb through. This they all did.

On the other side Chris turned to look back at the fence. The hole was glaringly obvious. "Mandy?" he attracted the witch's attention, "Can you cover that up?"

The blonde witch nodded and focused on the damaged fence for a moment. Mandy had the power to create small but long-lasting illusions and, sure enough, after a few seconds the fence shimmered then appeared whole again. The hole was still there, but it should escape the notice of the patrolling demons.

The same process was repeated on all of the fences until at last the group were inside the factory compound,

"It's this way." hissed Chris, pointing to the right.

The team ran as stealthily as they could towards the indicated building, ducking into shadows whenever the inside guards passed. Newell led the group past the main entrance to the factory and stopped at a half-hidden door, located around the back of the building.

"This is it." he whispered, "There's only one guard for this entrance,"

Chris nodded. "Can you get us in?"

In reply Newell reached into his pocket and produced a swipe card. "I nicked it off one of the guys who works in there." he told them, "He's an informer for Wyatt so it's no loss to any of us if they think he let us in."

The group were tense with anticipation as Darryl took the proffered card and slotted it into the reader. For a moment nothing happened but then a green light flashed and the door opened with a quiet click.

"Quickly, let's get inside." Darryl hissed, gesturing for the other to precede him in,

Chris entered first, eyes darting about him and an athame ready in his hand for the demonic guard they expected to encounter.

"Hmmm...Huh...?"

The sleepy grunt startled the young witch and Chris spun round quickly searching for the source of the noise. The guard, a brute demon, was sitting slumped against the wall, clearly having just woken up. However the demon wasn't confused for long. Even as Chris was throwing the athame the demon was conjuring a fireball ready to kill the intruders. The teen was quicker though, and the demon disintegrated into a pile of dust, the fireball flickering and dying.

Darryl, who had been checking for the presence of another guard, announced 'All clear!"

"Good." muttered Chris, "Lead the way," this directed at Newell.

Their informant lead the group through a maze like series of corridors until they reached a vast room filled from floor to ceiling with machinery. The production lines were silent but huge towers of crates were stacked up at the end of each conveyer belt.

"Right." Chris instructed, "You all know what to do. Destroy as much of the machinery as you can. Completely disable it. Darryl come with me and let us investigate what exactly it is that Wyatt is producing that's so important."

Nods were seen all around and the group separated and filtered through the room, Chris and Darryl heading towards the crates.

Using his telekinesis, Chris wrenched the lid off one of the crates and the two stared in confusion at the machinery they saw. "What on earth is it?" Chris questioned.

Darryl shook his head in bafflement. "I've never seen anything like it before. I think it might fly though. Look at the structure, And this part looks like a scanner of sorts."

"Hey, look, there's something that looks like an office of sorts over there. Maybe they have some info on it." Chris pointed out.

The two traipsed over to the office and noticed with glee the many papers strewn across the desk. Their elation turned to dread, however, when they started to read the papers.

"Oh my god." groaned Chris, "This is awful. These _things_ could stop everything we do for the resistance."

"How is it even possible?" returned Darryl, "I never knew that magic and technology could be mixed."

"Well Wyatt's managed it." Chris replied glumly.

Darryl glanced out the door, where the sounds of machinery being enthusiastically destroyed filtered through, "What do we tell the others? What if Wyatt has got these floating around out there already?"

Chris paused, thinking hard. "Wait until we get back to Sanctuary. We can't have anyone panicking out here, if they discover what these things can do."

"Okay. We need to get back as quickly as possible."

----

Deep underground, in the dungeons below the Town Hall, a pitiful figure writhed on the ground, strange mewling sounds coming from its mouth. The once golden robes were grey with dust and streaked with a mixture of dried, rust coloured and bright, fresh blood.

In the time that had passed since the Elder had been captured, defiance had been turned to fear; any thought of resistance gradually being eroded away. He could feel nothing but pain and his mind was slowly, tortuously breaking under the strain.

Standing tall, a devilish smirk twisting his face, Wyatt almost crowed in jubilation. The Elder was so close to telling them what he needed to know. He was mere heartbeats away from finding out the coveted location of Sanctuary.

Wyatt nudged one of the crystal's forming the crystal cage, sending a shock through the Elder. There was not even a cry of pain anymore, just a garbled moaning and a slight tremor in one arm.

Wyatt crouched down and pushed one of the crystals away, breaking the circle. The Elder barely fluttered an eyelid.

"This could all stop, you know." the twice-blessed informed the Elder, pulling out an athame and placing the cold steel along his prisoner's cheek. "You know what I want from you, just a simple location, and then all this will be over."

"No more pain," with this Wyatt pressed the side of the blade into the Elder's face, gouging a deep line, "No more suffering." Wyatt dragged the blade lower, until the bloody line extended across the neck.

The Elder let out a keening cry of pain as Wyatt viciously dug the blade in, coming perilously close to the windpipe.

"Tell me." he whispered.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the Elder opened his pain filled eyes. Wyatt positioned the athame directly above the Elder's heart, point hovering above the skin. Defeat and self-loathing settled on the Elder's face but the pain was too much for him, the long days of slow torture had completely broken him, he would do anything for the pain to stop and so he would tell Wyatt what he needed to know.

"In the Overworld," the Elder croaked, "There...there is a seeing pool. It's hidden, hidden in the clouds. Ask and it will show you Sanctuary. Seeing it, you will be able to orb there."

Wyatt hid his gleeful grin and kept the smirk plastered on, "Hidden in the clouds? What does that mean?" he murmured silkily, pressing down on the athame until it just broke the skin.

"Just...look up." the Elder gasped, "Move the clouds."

"Tell me exactly how to find this seeing pool." Wyatt demanded, "What clouds? How do I move them?"

But the Elder shook his head frantically, finally convulsing in tears. "No, no, no." he muttered over and over again. "What have I done? I shouldn't have..."

"Tell me!" shouted Wyatt, "Tell me or you'll know so much pain it'll be worse than everything you've ever experienced all rolled into one."

The Elder stilled for a moment and suddenly a look of clarity appeared in his eyes. In one swift movement the Elder jerked his body up, the athame sliding through unyielding flesh until it penetrated his heart.

It was over in a moment. The Elder laying dead, glassy eyes open and staring. Wyatt leaning over the body, his eyes furious.

"Never mind." Wyatt spoke evenly to his lieutenant, Kezlar, who had been watching the whole proceedings, "I will examine every inch of the Overworld until I find this seeing pool. And then, then I will finally be able to penetrate Sanctuary and dispose of the infuriating resistance."

'And,' Wyatt added silently, 'I'll be able to bring Chris back to me. I'll force him to join me yet.'


	26. Seeing Double

...It's been so long hasn't it? Unfortunately something called real life got in the way. I hope this chapter meets expectations and that you haven't given up on this story despite the long wait. Thank you all so much for reading!

Autumn-371

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**Chapter 26**

The group reappeared in Sanctuary within a cloud of orbs and found a small group assembled to meet them.

"How did it go?" questioned Orion.

Chris nodded, "Inside the factory is pretty much destroyed. They won't be making anything in there for a while"

The Elder smiled in response, "Good. For the moment, at least, we appear to be one step ahead of Wyatt."

"Why don't Darryl and I give you the full report while the others get some rest," suggested Chris, trying to be casual about getting Orion alone to tell him about their discovery. However the moment he said this he felt a pair of piercing eyes on him. Looking up he saw Bianca standing at the edge of their welcoming committee, giving him a questioning look.

'I can't hide anything from her,' Chris thought admiringly. If there was one good thing that had come out of Wyatt's takeover, then it was meeting Bianca. Their relationship was only a fledgling one at the moment, but it was undoubtedly progressing into something much, much more.

He offered her a small smile, 'Later' he inwardly promised, 'I'll tell you later'.

Bianca seemed to understand and Chris broke his gaze to follow Orion and Darryl into the appointed centre of operations.

"What did you find?" Orion asked without preamble as soon as all three were ensconced in the room.

Darryl and Chris exchanged glances, a slight tilt of Darryl's head indicating that Chris should be the one to break the news. The teenager sighed.

"Wyatt has somehow managed to create a type of probe that can detect magic." he told the Elder, "It seems to be a combination of magic and technology. They fly or hover in the air and have a sort of scanner that can detect magic in a person. "

Darryl added, "They can also, apparently, detect the use of magic from quite a distance and set off city wide alarms, alerting Wyatt's forces."

Orion was silent for a moment, digesting this information. "This is bad." he said eventually, "Any sorties we send into San Francisco..."

He trailed off but Chris finished the sentence for him, "Wyatt will be able to find them. Immediately."

The three men looked grimly at each other. "Did you destroy them all?" Orion asked.

"Yes," Chris answered, "But who knows if any had already left the factory. There were a number there already assembled. And also, whoever created the plans... well, we'd be foolish to think that they couldn't recreate them."

"There must be a way to hide from then though," Darryl muttered, "There has to be something."

Chris shrugged, "I can ask Prue to look into it? Maybe a spell or a potion."

Orion nodded, "It's worth a try. I'm afraid I know nothing about technology or machinery. Who knows how effective out spells will be."

"What about..." But Chris was cut off by a distant cry from outside. The three men exchanged worried looks, before rushing outside, almost colliding with an Elder running to find them.

"Quickly, come to the seeing pool." Mayer gasped, pointing behind him. "We felt something from the Overworld so turned the sight towards there and... and _he's_ there!"

The four set off at a sprint towards the centre of the commotion. None needed to ask who '_h_e' was. Wyatt.

* * *

Wyatt left the dungeons at a fast pace, Kezlar close behind. The Resistance was getting to be more than a simple irritation and he couldn't wait to crush them and bring his baby brother back where he belonged.

As it was though he was interrupted before he had even made it back to his office. A relatively human looking demon approached the twice-blessed hurriedly, nervousness clearly apparent on his face. "M'Lord? I have some news..."

Wyatt came to an abrupt halt. "I'm busy." he stated abruptly, "What is it?"

"M'Lord, one of the factories was destroyed last night." the demon muttered apprehensively.

"What?" Wyatt frowned, his eyes becoming frosty, "Which one?"

The demon ducked his head, "The new one M'Lord. The one we were creating the probes in."

Wyatt growled in frustration. "That dammed Resistance!" he spat, angrily, "I will destroy them!"

"O-of course M'lord." the demon agreed quietly.

"What are you waiting for? Start rebuilding it!" Wyatt demanded of the demon, "Kezlar, see to it. I have a brother to deal with. And he's going to regret the day he crossed me."

With that Wyatt strode away, more angry than he had been in a long time. He entered his office a short while later and dropped his athame onto the desk. It was still smeared with the blood of the Elder. Rummaging in one of the drawers, he extracted a clean athame and muttered a spell to clean the Elder's blood of his black clothes. He was taking a trip to the Overworld.

* * *

"How long has he been there?" demanded Orion to the crowd gathered around the seeing pool.

Mayer shrugged, "Not long."

"What is he doing there?" Darryl wanted to know, but all anyone could do was shrug. There was nothing in the Overworld anymore, save for the dead bodies of the Elders and Whitelighters Wyatt had killed.

Chris stood next to Bianca as he watched the imposing figure of his brother stride up and down the Overworld, muttering what sounded like spells under his breath. "He's looking for something." Chris realised.

"But what?" Darryl asked again.

"Let us wait and see." Orion suggested, "There's nothing else we can do for now."

* * *

In the Overworld Wyatt was getting nowhere fast. He kept shaking off the feeling that he was being watched. After all, there was nothing here but a load of dead bodies.

"Hidden in the clouds..." Wyatt mused on the captured Elder's final words. Well there was no shortage of clouds here, he noticed in irritation. The walls and ceiling appeared to be made of them.

Wyatt muttered a number of spells designed to reveal hidden things but nothing happened. Scowling he repeated a number of them, but, again, the result was nothing.

Frowning he tried to recall what the Elder had said exactly. '_Look up... move the clouds..._' The words floated back to him and Wyatt tilted his neck to examine the ceiling. Fluffy white clouds drifted serenely overhead, but he could see nothing beyond them.

"How do I move them?" the twice-blessed pondered. Spells didn't appear to work but then... Wyatt started as a brainwave hit him: Elder's didn't have any witches powers, all they had were Elder's powers. Therefore there was only one way in which to move the clouds.

Smirking, Wyatt gestured with a strong hand at the clouds above. "Move." he commanded clearly, although unnecessarily, as his attempt to orb the clouds away was already working.

The orbs cleared slowly and Wyatt's smirk grew larger as he looked up into the seeing pool.

* * *

The spectators gathered around the seeing pool in Sanctuary looked at each other in puzzlement as Wyatt kept gazing upwards, but apparently seemed unable to see them.

"It's as if he's looking for the Overworld's seeing pool" muttered Orion in horror, "But how can he know about it?"

"There's another one of these in the Overworld?" Chris asked.

"Yes, they're linked." Orion explained, "They were originally used as a communication method between our two safe havens, but were modified over the years to show other things too."

Darryl looked up from the pool, "Communication method? If he finds it he'll be able to talk to us?"

"Worse than that." Mayer contributed, "He'll be able to use it to travel here. Sanctuary will no longer be safe."

Bianca grabbed Chris' arm, bringing his attention back to the pool, "Look, what's he doing?"

The group watched in dread as Wyatt waved his hand straight at them and the scene from the pool vanished in a cloud of orbs.

"_Move_." The command filtered through the obscured pool, even as the orbs began to fade.

As the image became visible again, Wyatt stood in the centre, head tilted back and smirk firmly placed upon his face. His eyes met Chris' though the seeing pools.

"Hello Chris."


	27. An Invasion of Sanctuary

Hi everyone, another chapter is finally finished!! I hope it's worth the wait and, once again, I'm truly sorry about the horrendous amount of time between updates...

Enjoy! And thanks so much for all the reviews.

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**Chapter 27: An Invasion of Sanctuary**

"Well, well, well. _This_ is where you're hiding from me, Chris?" Wyatt sneered, his voice faintly distorted by the magic of the two seeing pools, "That must be Sanctuary I can see behind you, and your pathetic 'Resistance'."

Chris met his brother's gaze angrily, "If we're pathetic then what does it say about your demon lackeys?" he retorted, somewhat childishly, "After all we beat them."

Wyatt laughed mockingly, "A single battle, Chris, that's all. Just one. Enjoy your victory for as long as you can; it'll all be over soon."

Chris felt Bianca grip his hand reassuringly and felt a measure of confidence return to him. The others gathered around the seeing pool were remaining silent, letting the two brothers have their war of words.

"You'll never win." Chris replied steadily, feeling a coldness replace his earlier nervousness, "We'll never stop fighting you."

Wyatt waved a hand expansively, "Oh you will. You will little brother. Be sure of it. After all, I am the twice-blessed, how can I lose?"

The blonde made a show of looking around the destroyed Overworld then returned his gaze to the group in Sanctuary, "Besides, I'm already halfway there. Soon I'll control more than just a measly city, and if you wanted it, Chris, you could be there, at my side."

"Go to hell." Chris spat, "I've told you a million times already, I'll never turn evil."

Wyatt narrowed his eyes, "And I've told you a million times, there's no such thing" he hissed suddenly beyond irritated at his brothers stubbornness.

"What do you want?" Chris demanded, "Why are you there? Why are you speaking with us?"

"To destroy you." Wyatt returned bluntly, "To obliterate Sanctuary from the map and remove the last obstacle in my path. And now I have the means to do it.

"I'll be generous, I'll give you fifteen minutes to clear out any who wish to join me or who are too cowardly to fight, but after that then it's war, Christopher. And you can't stop me: it'll take longer than that for the precious few Elders left to 'disconnect' your seeing pool. And my army is, as always, ready at my command."

Wyatt locked his gaze with his brother's. "Fifteen minutes, Chris." he repeated evenly, "Fifteen minutes."

The silent crowd gathered around the seeing pool watched as the twice-blessed dissolved in a cloud of orbs, leaving behind an empty, scarred Overworld.

"We have to get ready." Chris stated calmly, though his heart was beating rapidly, "We need to prepare. Wyatt will be here when he says he will, we can be sure of that."

* * *

Wyatt Halliwell strode through the grandiose hallways of his adopted base, inwardly counting down the minutes until the deadline he had given his brother. Demons were being rapidly organised in the Grand Hall and he wanted to oversee his troops before the battle began.

As he reached the balcony overlooking the mustering of demons, Kezlar approached him from the shadows and took up position slightly to the left of and behind the blonde.

"Rebuilding of the factory is starting even now, My Lord." the brute demon informed his boss, "The humans who are not fighting will begin the repairs shortly."

"Good." Wyatt nodded once, satisfied. He looked out at the two groups of demons forming either side of the Grand Hall. Armed and fierce, Chris and the Resistance would not stand a chance against even one half of his troop. This, Wyatt reflected, was good seeing as he _was_ only sending one half to invade Sanctuary. He had other plans for the remaining demons. Big plans.

"Three minutes." Wyatt commented, "Will they be ready?"

"Yessir" replied his lieutenant swiftly, "Both teams are ready to move out at your command, My Lord"

Wyatt allowed himself a wicked smile, "Good. And so, it shall begin."

* * *

Sanctuary was a hectic bustle of people and other magical beings rushing to prepare for the oncoming battle. None had opted to leave, whether out of fear or desire to join Wyatt, which made Chris feel inordinately proud, despite the fact that he felt he had no reason to be.

"But you do." Bianca insisted, grabbing his hand and leading him away from the crush for a moment, "You're our leader. We're fighting with you because we have faith in you."

Chris shook his head, "You're fighting because it's the right thing to do. Because Wyatt will destroy all that's good in this world if we don't stop him."

"Well, yes" Bianca allowed, "But the courage to actually fight, to put our lives on the line for this? That's down to you. If we were alone and leaderless, with no hope as to actually winning, how many do you think would be here? How many would be keeping their heads down in the hopes of simply surviving?"

Bianca reached up and pressed her lips to Chris' in a chaste kiss, "We're here because of you. Because we believe in you." She paused, wrapping her arms tightly around him, "Because I believe in you." she whispered.

Chris returned the hug, for a moment simply content to be with Bianca: the two of them in a brief oasis of calm within a whirlwind of fear.

"Bianca I..." Chris pulled away slightly and reached down to gently cup her cheek in his hand, "I think I love you." he confessed, "I don't know what I'd do without you, please _please_ stay safe."

Bianca eyes widened slightly at the confession before she caught his lips in a fervent kiss, hands coming up to tangle in his hair. "I love you too." she murmured in his ear when they had broken apart, breathing heavily but exceedingly happy.

"We should go back out there," Chris said eventually, reluctantly, "Wyatt will be here soon."

Bianca nodded, "I'll be right beside you, all the way." she promised, "You won't have to do this alone."

* * *

Eventually, everyone in Sanctuary was in position. The courtyard was completely empty, indeed the entire place seemed devoid of life, however small groups were hidden behind slightly ajar doors, behind wide pillars, pressed tightly to perpendicular walls. The concentric ringed balconies were lined with all those possessing less offensive powers, armed to the teeth with potions, throwing knives and any other forms of missiles that had been fashioned in the time available.

They had no way of knowing precisely where Wyatt's troops would appear, but Chris supposed the central courtyard was the most likely place. It was, he reasoned, the only place Wyatt had actually seen with his eyes, and plus Wyatt was nothing if not egotistical: he liked to make an entrance. Chris wasn't far wrong.

At precisely the time stated by Wyatt, the courtyard was suddenly full of demons shimmering in.

"Fire!" Prue shouted, from somewhere on the balconies. Chris had managed to position her up there to both satisfy her want to fight and hopefully keep her out of the worst of the fighting.

The demons were met with a hailstorm of coloured potions, arrows and knifes and a large proportion were instantly taken out, their ashes forming a small cloud of dust around the attackers. But their places were simply taken by more and more demons shimmering in. Soon the defenders on the balconies were no longer able to keep the tide of advancing demons back and Chris, crouched behind pillar, prepared to enter the battle.

"Hold steady" he hissed to his group as they showed signed of shifting, "Don't attack until they're level with us. That way we can take out as many as possible before they even know we're here."

The demons, still unaware of any defenders on the ground floor, approached Chris's hiding place almost carelessly, their attentions fixed on the attacker above them.

"Wait..." Chris murmured, "Wait... NOW!" he shouted as the lead demon drew level with his hiding place. That demon exploded into a puff of ash as Chris directed his explosive power at it. The others were all doing similar offensive attacks, the kills relatively easy as the demons were taken by surprise.

The demons soon rallied though, and fierce fighting broke out. The real battle had begun and the demons were quickly making up for the previous losses.

Chris was blasting demons as fast as he could, interspersing these attacks with telekinesis and, for close up work, a rather beautifully made athame. He ducked a meaty fist with spikes growing out of the knuckles and managed to slam the athame into the demon's thigh. The demon released a guttural growl and swung his fist again, catching Chris across the cheekbone.

The teenager hit the ground hard, feeling blood drip down his face, but wildly sent a blast of power at the demon before the spiked fist could strike again. A shower of ashes sprinkled over the area but Chris has no time to celebrate his victory as a snake-like demon, similar to the one Chris had fought in the alley before being captured, suddenly appeared in front of him.

Chris waved a hand, telekinetically sending the demon flying and mentally cheered as the demon collided with a second who was only moments away from plunging a knife into the heart of a Resistance fighter. The pair of demons landed in a tangle of limbs on the floor and the two Resistance fighters simultaneously tossed potions.

"Thanks Chris!" shouted the other man as the demons met their end in a fiery inferno.

Chris grinned and turned to re-enter the melee, attracting the attention of a trio of demons. They were fairly lower level and Chris managed to blast two of them out of existence before they had reached him. The third was finished off by a potion thrown from above, and Chris had a feeling that either Prue or Sheila was keeping watch on him from the balcony. There was no time to look, however, as a shouted warming alerted him to a demon coming up behind him and the fighting continued.

* * *

Back in San Francisco, Wyatt was receiving constant reports on how the attack on Sanctuary was going. He was slightly annoyed that it wasn't going to be the easy victory he had imagined, however as long as the Resistance were suitably distracted part two of his plan could go ahead.

"Kezlar!" demanded Wyatt, "Are the other demons all in position?"

"Yes M'Lord" grunted the brute demon, "All ready and waiting, sir"

"Good." Wyatt grinned viciously, "I'll bring the barrier down now, I want you to go and lead the attack. You know what to do."

Kezlar nodded and shimmered out, leaving the twice-blessed alone in his office.

Wyatt settled himself at his desk and picked up a crystal that was glowing brightly. Closing his fist tightly around the rock, he concentrated his magic on cancelling that of the crystal and outside in the city the impenetrable barriers surrounding it slowly began to flicker and drop.

Behind these barrier stood rows of snarling demons, ready to flood out into the surrounding countryside and annihilate the human soldiers positioned there. With the Resistance busy fighting their own battle at Sanctuary they could not learn about this second attack in time to help.

Wyatt had wanted California, and with the Resistance unable to help, Wyatt was going to get California. Violently.

His army began to attack...


	28. Double Blindness

Once again it's quite possibly been forever and a day since I last updated... so, yet again, sorry about that! Anyway, this is quite a sad chapter. Just so you're warned. Please don't hate me for it...

Thanks for still reading this!

* * *

**Chapter 28**

Thomas Martins had once thought he was a brave man. Serving in the United States army for twenty years, meant he was no stranger to fighting. This, however, was something altogether different. The burly middle-aged man could only stand, frozen in sheer terror, and stare at the unrelenting tide of ... _things_ that were coming towards the front line.

Not five minutes earlier the strange 'magical' barriers that had surrounded San Francisco ever since the dictator 'witch' had taken over, had vanished without a sound, leaving nothing but a faint tang of electricity in the air. It had happened so suddenly, so silently that it had taken a brief moment of incredulous disbelief before the men serving as look-outs even so much as realised what had happened.

It took an even briefer moment before they remembered what had happened last time the barriers came down.

The _creatures_... the demons. Advancing on foot, unarmed by human means, but many, many times more deadly than any weapon the forces of the US could bring to bear.

Top brass were still unsure as to how the previous battle had ended. They had tentatively labelled it as a win, but the niggling thought was in everyone's minds that if the apparent resistance force within the city hadn't launched their own counter-attack, then things would have gone much worse.

Much, much worse.

And, now, it seemed like those thoughts were about to be realised. The army of demons was marching forward, uninterrupted, and would soon reach the front line of hastily assembled soldiers. Martins raised his gun, careful of his shaking hands, and sought a demon in the cross-hairs.

The second battle for California was about to begin.

---

The battle for Sanctuary, however, was still continuing.

Sanctuary was currently a confusing whirlwind of noise and moving bodies. The fight had lost all semblance of order and was now simply an outright melee. Chris had no idea if they were winning or losing and, more worryingly to him, he had no idea where his younger cousin was.

Chris blasted a demon about to launch an energy ball at him, and then turned his face away as the dark ash blew over him. Wiping away a streak of blood trickling down his face he sought out his next opponent and managed to sink his athame deep into the heart of another demon.

A familiar voice then rose above the chaotic sounds of fighting: "We're winning!" Darryl shouted, "Keep fighting, we're nearly there!"

A ragged cheer sounded throughout the chamber and Chris felt a grin stretch his face. There was no time for early celebrations though: demons were still attacking and Resistance members were still falling.

Chris headed over to where Darryl's voice had come from and found his friend battling two demons. Darryl was throwing a barrage of potions at them and attempting to strike death blows with his athame, but was clearly weakening. Chris rushed up to help and between the two of them the tables were turned. In moments both demons were nothing but clouds of ash floating to the ground.

Darryl clapped Chris on the shoulder in thanks and leant down to shout in his ear, "There's less and less demons left now. We really are beating them!"

Chris nodded, "Good!" he shouted back.

Seeing a brute demon, not five feet in front of him, about to deliver a fatal blow to another Resistance member Chris leapt forward and attempted to blast the now ducking and weaving demon.

He eventually managed the feat and was checking on the woman he'd saved when suddenly the dynamics of the battlefield changed.

The demons were the ones cheering now, and Chris lifted his head to see Darryl's horrified gaze looking at something over his shoulder. Chris spun round in dread and felt his heart sink. The battle wasn't nearly over yet.

---

All he could see was red. That was the thought running through Thomas Martins' mind. Not the red of anger, the red that blurred thought processes until all you knew was the lust for war and destruction. No, it was the red of blood. The red of dying.

Thomas Martins knew he was dying.

Blood was running down his face and covering his eyes in a film of red.

He could barely make out screams of terror and hoarse shouts of pain from his fellow soldiers. Could barely feel the ground vibrating beneath his prone figure, could barely feel the gun which was held loosely in numb fingers.

But one thought was running through his mind clearly. They had lost. Or, at least, they were losing with little hope of a comeback. Guns were no match for... whatever those things were.

California was under enemy control.

Martins managed to take in a shaky breath, tasting the metallic tang of the blood pooling in his mouth and his hearing sharpened as footsteps drew near.

The battle had moved on from the area he was lying in, there was nothing now but the bodies of the dead and the dying. Yet it was here that the footsteps of what sounded like two people were approaching.

Martins listened, unable to move his twisted limbs.

"We are winning, M'Lord" growled a guttural, scratchy voice

"Excellent." hissed the other, a voice Martins realised in shock belonged to Wyatt Halliwell.

"California will be yours shortly," the first voice continued, "We have spread out and are holding the borders. Your soldiers have surrounded and are destroying any humans still fighting."

"And Sanctuary?" enquired Wyatt, a hint of anticipation in his voice.

There was a brief pause, "M'Lord, the reports suggest the battle is still ongoing."

A snarl cut the air, "Ongoing? How is that possible, they should be obliterated by now!" Martins could hear the pure anger in Wyatt's tone.

"Never mind." Wyatt cut his lieutenant off, "The battle here is all but won, I'll head over to Sanctuary and finish the rebellious traitors off myself. Chris isn't going to win again."

"Yes M'Lord." muttered the reply.

There was a strange sound then, that Martins heard, a faint tinkling of bells. A bright light pushed through the haze of red before vanishing as suddenly as it had appeared. Only one set of footsteps continued on and Martins' wondered what had happened to the other.

But he only wondered briefly.

The red was darker than ever and his hearing was fading. The taste of blood was getting stronger and Martin's knew he was about to die. He could feel pain now, rising and rising until he wanted to scream out loud. The fade to black was a relief.

---

"Wyatt." spat Chris, as his eyes landed on his brother standing almost casually in the middle of the battle at Sanctuary.

"The battle for California is over!" shouted the twice-blessed, "It is in my hands now, give up fighting me now and I may be lenient."

"What?" gasped Chris in horror, just as Darryl let out an equally shocked "No!"

"He's attacked the rest of California." Chris whispered anger and fear leaking through in equal amounts.

"He could be lying." Darryl muttered, but it was a wild hope that neither man really believed.

Chris shook his head, "This battle is as much a distraction as anything else." he hazarded a guess.

"Do you surrender?" Wyatt called out.

"No!" chorused Chris and Darryl. And the sentiment was echoed throughout the chamber. All around the resistance fighters were shaking their heads and tightening their hands around their weapons.

Wyatt let out a bitter laugh, "Very well then. Die!" His final proclamation rang out around the chamber and almost as suddenly as it had begun the brief respite was over.

The chamber was rapidly filled with desperate fighting again, although this time it seemed that the demons were gaining the upper hand.

Chris was split from Wyatt by a seething mass of grappling figures and even as he attempted to fight his way through each individual battle was slowing him down.

Chris was nearing where his brother stood and fought when he heard it: a high pitched voice rising above the hoarse grunts and snarls.

"How could you!" It was Prue's voice, Chris realised with a jolt. And she was shouting at Wyatt. Chris redoubled his efforts to get through, and he noticed Darryl close behind him.

Chris carelessly blew up a demon in his way and his coarse shouts of pain before death covered up Wyatt and Prue's conversation. By the time the noise died down Prue was sending blasts of telekinesis at her elder cousin, while Wyatt easily deflected them using Excalibur as a shield.

"Is that the best you can do?" Wyatt taunted Prue, "Come on, Prue. Stop fighting me and join me."

"Never!" the teen shouted, angrily pushing another pulse of telekinesis which was again deflected by the shining steel of Excalibur.

"I'm not playing games here, Prudence. " Wyatt spat, "Either join me now or die like the rest of these worthless traitors here."

Prue drew herself up straight, "You'll have to kill me then." she sneered.

"If you insist." Wyatt retorted coolly.

Suddenly Prue desperately flung herself to the ground as a gleaming metal blade sliced through the air towards her. Chris was close enough to see the shock on his cousin's face as she pulled herself up of the ground. But he was still too far away, separated by far too many fighting bodies, to offer any help.

Chris shouted in frustration, killing two demons in his way almost instantaneously, with Darryl taking out a third. They were closer yet, but still not close enough.

"Why?" Prue choked out, sudden fear almost overpowering her anger.

A malicious curve twisted Wyatt's lips, "You chose to die rather than join me, Prue. I am merely allowing you the benefit of choice."

Prue desperately sent successive pulses of telekinesis at Wyatt as he stalked closer, deflecting each and every blast.

"Sorry Prudence, but I only have so much patience."

Chris and Darryl broke through the crowd as the sleek blade of Excalibur rose high into the air and began a sharp descent towards the girl.

"No!" Chris shouted, feeling equal amounts of shock and utter helplessness as he realised he was still too far away to interfere.

Despite this, he sent his own pulse of telekinesis at his brother. Wyatt smoothly stepped forward, following the path of Excalibur and avoiding the blast.

"Prue!" The next voice to call out surprised everyone there.

"Sheila!" Darryl almost screamed as he saw his wife sprint forward towards Wyatt and Prue, much, much closer than the two men were.

The unforgiving steel of Excalibur jerked forwards in a decisive movement easily piercing flesh and spilling ruby red blood onto the ground.

Wyatt's eyes opened wide with an emotion Chris couldn't quite determine as the body before him slumped to their knees.

Prue screamed as Wyatt drew the blade back, slick with blood.

Chris and Darryl froze in horror at the scene before them. Darryl let out a choked moan, "No, no, no, no..." desperation and disbelief twisting the man's voice into a mockery of his own.

Chris felt his heart jerk with pain and his dismayed stare took in the scene in front of him.

Sheila lay crumpled on the ground. Her blood spreading out in a pool around her. Blood from the wound in her stomach. The wound made by Excalibur, the blade cutting deep as she flung herself in front of Prue. To save the girl she thought of as a daughter.

"No..." the word was torn from Chris' burning throat. "No!"


	29. A New Sanctuary

Hey everyone... yes, it really is a new chapter! Sorry it's not all that long. Thank you so much for all your reviews and also for not abandoning this story. I promise I haven't. Honestly. It will be finished one day soon, I hope. The end is almost in sight!

Edit- I can't believe how long it has actually been since I updated last! I am soooooooooooooooooooooooooo sorry guys. Truly sorry.

* * *

**Chapter 29**

The rest of the fight was a blur to Chris. His anger and rage combined to make his head spin, his heart ache and his magic to burn within him. Later, he couldn't say how long the battle had continued after Wyatt left, Excalibur still dripping Sheila's blood onto Sanctuary's cool, white floor.

He vaguely remembered fighting shoulder to shoulder with Darryl and Prue, both their faces streaked with tears and twisted with angry, gut-wrenching pain. He had fought like a madman, Bianca later told him, carefully keeping her voice steady. Any of Wyatt's demons crossing his path were blown to smithereens in a matter of seconds. The three of them had been unstoppable.

But the fighting was over now. Sanctuary was a mess of broken bodies and blood, and people moaning and crying. Chris supposed they must have won again: the demons were dead while the resistance still lived after all. It was a strange, shattered, pain-filled sort of living, Chris mused, but the resistance had survived, in part at least, to fight another day.

Bianca was beside him. Chris reached for her hand as he stood, half-hidden on one of the balconies, surveying the scene below him. She was silent, holding onto his hand tightly.

"We have to move." Chris muttered, his voice hoarse.

"Move?" questioned Bianca, studying his face uncertainly.

"Sanctuary's not safe. Not anymore." he clarified, "We have to go somewhere else. Find somewhere else to go."

Bianca nodded, biting her lip. She glanced sideways at him and opened her mouth, as if to speak, but then stopped and turned back silent.

Chris paused.

Bianca spun back, "Chris... I-" she started hesitantly.

They locked gazes and Chris could see the sympathy in Bianca's eyes.

"I'm sorry." she said eventually. "About Sheila. I- I know what she meant to you and I know that saying how sorry I am about it isn't going to fix anything but... I am. Sorry, that is."

"Thanks." Chris muttered, feeling his heart clench within him.

Bianca reached out her other hand to caress his cheek. "I mean it," she told him, "If there's anything I can do, anything I can say to help make this even a little better for you..."

Chris laid his hand over hers. "Just be here." he said softly. "The fact that you made it through the fight, that you are standing with me right now..." he shook his head. "I don't know if I could survive if I lost you too. I don't think I could survive if I lost someone else that I love."

"I'll be here." Bianca promised, "Right by your side, right 'til the end, whatever that end may be."

And she was. Later, when the haggard and battle-scarred remnants of the resistance stumbled into the devastated remains of what had been P3, Chris still held tightly onto her hand.

When scouts had determined that the entire block surrounding his mother's old club was empty and abandoned, but still habitable for those desperate enough, Chris announced his plans to set up camp here, to start over with a new base, with Bianca standing at his side.

When night fell and Chris, Prue and Darryl clung to each other and cried, cried heart-wrenching tears for their wife and surrogate mother, Bianca was waiting. And when Darryl had assured Prue that he didn't blame her for Sheila's death, that Wyatt was the only one to blame, when Prue had cried herself to sleep in Darryl's arms and Darryl had fallen into an exhausted slumber, Chris left them sleeping and went to Bianca's arms where he cried even more tears, more tears than he thought possible. And when he couldn't cry any more they slept themselves, clutching onto each other as if they would never let go.

Over the next few days, the resistance gradually picked themselves up and got back on their feet again. The mood was different, sombre. Everyone had lost someone now. But they were also determined. Now they had little left to lose.

Orion and Mayer had survived the fight as well and soon things were getting organised, with scouts send out to find out as much as they could.

"California is entirely under Wyatt's control." Darryl informed the four of them, "And he's spreading ever outwards. More and more cities are falling each day. There's nothing that can stand in his way."

Chris studied Darryl carefully. The man was mourning his wife, and mourning hard, but was determined to do as much as he could for the resistance, and for Chris and Prue. Much like him, Chris mused, Darryl was throwing his all into this fight, keeping as busy as possible so that he didn't break down. But there was an air of recklessness about him now, that Chris didn't recognise. Darryl had always been so careful, so cautious, yet now... war changes everyone, Chris thought bitterly. Even Prue had changed. Sometimes, when Wyatt was mentioned, her eyes went cold and hard, and her smile was rarely seen these days. Chris supposed he was much the same.

"What can we do?" asked Orion. "We are finding more and more survivors hiding in the rubble, human's mostly, and our numbers are growing again. Yet we are not in any position to start any fights. We can't help these other cities."

Mayer nodded his assent. "Another attack would decimate us." he said.

Chris squared his shoulders. "Well, then, we start again. Do what we did at the beginning. Small sorties, information gathering, that sort of thing. Make our blows count. We start in San Francisco and do what we can. Whatever we can to stop Wyatt."

The other men exchanged glances and nodded. "We start again." Darryl repeated grimly.

* * *

Time passed.

Wyatt stared out over San Francisco, from his ostentatious office. He controlled so much of America now, he thought gleefully. Almost two-thirds. New York had yet to fall, as had Washington D.C. but Chicago had fallen only yesterday. Nothing could stand in his way.

Kezlar was going a good job of leading his troops, Wyatt considered. He, himself, rarely had to step in and do any actual fighting. There had been a few powerful witches who had thought to stand up and fight that he had to take care of himself, but he relished those. He was the twice-blessed, the most powerful witch ever to exist and winning only increased the fear surrounding him.

The only problem, as ever, was his little brother. Wyatt had expected the resistance to fall, and fall swiftly, after he had left the battle. He had been furious when the unexpected news had been brought to him that the resistance still continued. Damaged but still, no doubt, a force to be reckoned with. Wyatt supposed he should have stayed to fight 'til the end. To make sure. But somehow he had felt..., he wasn't sure what, but he knew he had to get out of there as quickly as possible.

Wyatt turned to gaze at Excalibur, laid carefully out on his desk. The blade was clean now but sometimes, sometimes in the corner of his eye, it looked as if there was still blood on it. Sheila's blood. Wyatt closed his eyes and her face swan before him. The look in her eyes as she flung herself in front of Prue, as the blade slid into her. He shook his head angrily. Sheila had chosen her side. She had chosen to die for Prue. He shouldn't feel anything for her; just as he wouldn't have if he had succeeded in killing Prue.

Wyatt snorted bitterly. If that was true then why was he having to convince himself so hard that it was true? But Prue wouldn't join him and so she had to die. "It really is that simple," Wyatt told himself firmly.

Chris was different though. Chris was his brother and they were stronger together. So, somehow, he was going to get his little brother to see things his way.

But for now, Wyatt watched one of his magical detecting probes whizz through the sky. Chris' resistance group was becoming a nuisance again. The probes were thankfully reasonably successful at catching unauthorised wielders of magic, but Chris had yet to be caught and many of his important assets here in San Francisco had undergone attacks by the rebel fighters.

But hopefully his most important asset would be safe from them. His new, grand idea, would become the greatest monument of all time. A way of celebrating the power which he was born into. A museum.

A museum celebrating the Charmed One's and their Twice-Blessed progeny.


	30. Epilogue

****I hate to leave things unfinished. So here is a short epilogue rounding off this story. Sorry for the long wait between chapters and thank you so much to everyone who's read this and left such lovely reviews.

* * *

**Epilogue**

Chris didn't know how he was still standing.

He didn't know how it was possible for someone who was hurting so much to be able to walk, to talk even to function as a normal human being. How it was possible to still love, to still have hope.

But somehow, _somehow_ he managed.

He still grieved for Darryl. Darryl, his surrogate father, who had died a good death defending New York from Wyatt's demon army.

He mourned for Prue, his larger than life little cousin. Even she in the end couldn't escape Excalibur's lethal blade, diving in front of Chris as Wyatt lost his temper and decided that if his brother would really rather die than join him then that could be arranged. Much as Sheila had done for her, she did for Chris. And no amount of tears in the world could bring her back.

He mourned for Orion, even for Mayer. And for many, many others.

But still he fought.

Still he loved.

Somehow he still had the capacity to love Bianca so much that he had asked her to marry him under the shadow of the Golden Gate bridge, hiding from the ubiquitous probes.

Somehow he still had the capacity to hope that they could build a life together in San Francisco.

Somehow he still had the capacity to hope that Wyatt could be saved from himself.

It had taken months of planning. Of scouting, of research. But finally they were ready. His and Bianca's scheme was about to reach fruition. They were going to go to the past and stop Wyatt from ever becoming the tyrant that he was today.

It would be difficult, Chris knew that. Maybe impossible. But he knew he had to try.

"Are you ready?" Bianca asked softly, coming up to stand beside him looking out over the bench where he had proposed to her.

Chris nodded, jaw set.

"I'm ready to save Wyatt. I'm ready to save my brother."


End file.
